y 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDDTIVVSDS 




BULLETIN 




Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 

March 28, 1914. 



ACTORS GOVERNING THE SUCCESSFUL SHIP- 
MENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 1 

\'ft V ' ^T^' Pomo!o ^"nd Horticulturist, H. J. Ramsey, Penologist in 
\Lfiargeof Fruit Transportation and Storage Investigations, and Lloyd S Tenny 

wncrl,, Penologist in Fruit- Transportation Investigations; assisted by \ w' 
^ B - fJ?"' C - S " P °™> K- B. Lewis, G. M. Harrow, Margaret 

-ONnor, and J. F. Fernald, of the Office of Horticultural and Paralogical Inves- 

igatw?is. 

INTRODUCTION. 

"he citrus-fruit industry of Florida is preeminently first among the agricultural and 
aness interests of the State. According to the figures of the last UnLTstates 
sus there were 3,864,514 orange trees in the State in the spring of 1910, 2,766 6 8 o 
*> being of bearing age and 1,097,896 nonbearing. The yield of the 1909 orale 
. », a. given by he census of 1910, was 4,852,967 boxes, valued at $4,304,987. From 

oTlfT^^t Uab T the PreSeDt ***>' th " dtrUB *' ro P of P1 ° ri ^ during Z 

X 5 769 o"-9 boT 1 " -/" 28 ' 428 Carl ° adS ' ° r 8 ' 125 ' 465 Ws > of - Mci a PP-xi- 
Blj 5,769 079 boxes, or /lpercent, were oranges; approximately 2,031 367 boxes 

3 per cent, were grapefruit; the balance, of app,„xinu, t ,ly 325,0^9 box^ or 4 pe^ 

., being tangerines, kumquats, and limes 

.ring the winter of 1894-95 there occurred in Florida two very severe freezes which 

ight great havoc in the groves of the State and permanently chanted Z oW t 
, le citrus industry. Present conditions date from that selson to a ^xt exte f 

ffding to Hume ■ there were 5,055,367 boxes in the crop of T 8 93 94 J*£ 1l 
I ie following year would doubtless have reached 6 OOo'oo 1 oxe ' w££ 

*mperatures, interspersed with periods of warm, growing i nTveS^ 

LOCATION OF THE FLORIDA CITRUS INDUSTRY. 

O™ t0 the , M 626 °t 1895 the CitniS ind ™*y of FlOTida was largely centered in 
!^I^^°^sert^^ became discouraged and 



i-'l Nury to the fruit! materially lessened by greater care and the avoidance of 

a figures were furnished by the Florida Citrus Exchange 

re, II. Harold. Citrus Fruits and Then Culture. Jacksonville Fla 

23103°— Bull. 63—14 1 

> .graph 



, WW, p. 4. 









3 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. £> 



VA 



0s> 



either went north to engage in other enterprises or sought locations for their new groves 
farther south, where conditions were considered safer. Since many of the older groves 
have been reestablished, the industry has become widely scattered over the State. 
Plantings now extend in a narrow fringe along the east coast, from St. John County on 
the north to below Miami, in Dade County, and along the west or Gulf coast they reach 
from Citrus County almost to the southern boundary of Lee County. Extensive plant- 
ings extend diagonally across the State from Volusia County on the east to Hillsboro, 
Manatee, De Soto, and Lee Counties on the west, including large sections of Brevard, 
Orange, Lake, Sumter, Hernando, Pasco, and Polk Counties, in addition to those 
already mentioned. Sections in Marion, Alachua, Citrus, and Osceola Counties also 
are devoted to citrus fruits. Figure 1 shows a map of the State with the location of the 

citrus plantings indicated 



o/g ( -\P/~~'-r-l\ i i|w««?'<> W"t'°" 

1 1 ^ .wAKuLLAliy J. \ I o J 1 Jl_ I TV 



by shading. 

The difficulties of han- 
dling and marketing crops 
of fruit produced in groves 
scattered over so wide a ter- 
ritory are manifestly greater 
than where the plantations 
are confined to a more re- 
stricted territory. Where 
groves are located compara- 
tively close together, as was 
the case in many of the 
older citrus districts of 
Florida, a neighborhood 
competition is stimulated, 
especially in the produc- 
tion of clean, bright fruit of 
fine texture. There has 
probably never been a re- 
gion where so many varie- 
ties of oranges have been 
developed and tested as in 
what, before the freeze, 
were the old neighborhood 
centers of production, or 
where more strenuous ef- 
forts have been made to pro- 
duce fruit of fine texture 
and flavor. Moreover, a 
special effort was made to pack the fruit in an attractive manner and to have it reach 
the market without decay. At present, with the groves so widely scattered through- 
out the State, there is much less personal contact between growers, and the old neigh- 
borhood competition in the production of fancy fruit has largely disappeared. 
Although the industry has become better organized during the last few years, it is 
extremely difficult to make effective any association which represents so many 
diverse interests and whose members are so widely scattered. This situation has 
proved a great barrier to the introduction of better handling and marketing methods. 

HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CITRUS INDUSTRY. 

It is believed that the orange was originally introduced into Florida by the Span- 
iards, who imported a few sour oranges and gave some of the fruits to the Indians. The 
seeds of these fruits, being distributed from village to village and finding congenial 

J 




Fig. 1.- 



-Map of Florida, with the location of the principal citrus 
plantings indicated by shading. 



1 SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 3 

ud favorable climatic conditions in the hardwood forests and live-oak groves, 
i the tall native growth protected them from sun and radiation, grew up into 
seedling trees, and in time formed wild groves of immense extent throughout the 
northern and central parts of peninsular Florida. 1 Although sweet oranges were 
known in Florida before the Civil War, they were not considered of commercial 
importance because of the absence of transportation facilities. Commercial orange 
culture dates back to between 1865 and 1870, when the success of the trees along the 
banks of the St. Johns River began to attract attention to this industry as a good invest- 
ment. As the profits were large from the first, many were thereby induced to engage 
in the business, and the industry gradually expanded until in 1895 the production 
had reached nearly 6,000,000 boxes. 

Transportation problems and market conditions have changed considerably since 
Florida reached its highest point in citrus production before the freeze. First of all, 
the citrus industry of California has been largely developed since that time. Through 
the establishment of efficient transportation facilities and modern refrigerator-car 
service, the California growers have been enabled to distribute their fruit over prac- 
tically every State in the Union. In the early days of the industry, the Florida 
orange growers did not have to meet the keen competition which has developed in 
recent years, and therefore the condition of their fruit upon its arrival in the market 
did not affect the selling price as much as it does at present. The market demand 
for Florida oranges was strong, and fair prices were usually obtained in spite of the 
presence of considerable decay. As the production increased just prior to 1894-95, 
less favorable prices were being received, and at the time of the freeze efforts were 
being made to extend the market both at home and abroad and to produce fruit of 
better keeping quality. 

The formation during that period of the Florida Fruit Exchange may be considered 
as an effort among the growers to obtain better marketing conditions, induced, it is 
thought, by the necessity of improving the quality and condition of fruit in the mar- 
kets. Although the Exchange failed to accomplish the special object for which it 
was created, it did prove that Florida oranges often failed to reach the northern mar- 
kets in sound condition. Notwithstanding the general impre&sion now current among 
growers that the decay of oranges was unknown before 1894, it seems to be well estab- 
lished that for many years the fruit has shown considerable waste. 

A few reports taken from the current issues of the trade papers will serve to show 
that even at that time the decay problem was of considerable importance. In the 
issue of December 23, 1893, of "The Florida Despatch Farmer and Fruit Grower," 
under the Buffalo-New York fruit-^ales letter, a statement was made which is char- 
acteristic of many others and serves to illustrate the wasted condition in which the 
fruit often reached the market. This report reads, in part: 

Very sorry to report that the fruit is still coming forward in poor condition. . . . 
About 1,400 boxes, good and bad, mostly all of which showed more or less decay, aver- 
aged $1.51. 

Under date of December 2, 1893, the following report is given: 

The dealers and handlers throughout the country are worn out with the constant 
labor of repacking, in the effort to save something out of the ruins of the decay, and 
to save the fruit from going bodily to the dump. Buyers are afraid to take hold, 
because they have no assurance of getting an article that will hold together until 
they can get rid of it. 

Out of 19 telegraphic reports, 12 mention fruit showing decay, using such re- 
marks as: "Both much decayed," "Some lots in very bad order," "Oranges mostly 
decayed," and "Very rotten." It will thus be seen that the conditions which are 
conducive to the occurrence of decay were present in the early days of the industry. 

' Mead, Theodore L. The orange. Article in Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, 1901, p. 1154. 



V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

With the extension of the plantings consequent upon the reestablishment of the 
industry, and the resulting increase in production, existing conditions have been 
largely responsible for the improper handling of the fruit, -which has been shown by 
later investigations to be the fundamental factor underlying the occurrence of decay. 
Many of the new groves established since the freeze have been planted on pine land, 
where it has been necessary to use heavy applications of fertilizers. Frequently the 
fertilizers have been selected with the purpose of producing large crops rather than 
fancy fruit, and this seems to have been at the expense of quality, thus partly account- 
ing for the large proportion of rough and unattractive oranges now to be found in the 
Florida crop. The production of large quantities of rather coarse and uninviting 
fruit has in turn led to rough and careless handling, for, as a general rule, the more 
attractive the fruit the greater will be the incentive to handle it carefully when 
preparing it for shipment. 

In addition to the freeze, unfavorable conditions have existed which have more or 
less discouraged many growers and which have led to the production of inferior fruit, 
with a correspondingly increasing tendency to place it on the market in a manner 
not conducive to the best results. The control of the white fly, which has spread 
over practically every citrus district in Florida, has been a serious problem. Fruit 
which has been rendered unattractive through the attacks of this pest presents one 
of the most discouraging problems which growers have to solve, for it is difficult to 
make workmen who pick, grade, and pack unattractive fruit realize the importance 
of careful handling. The sooty-mold fungus follows the attacks of the white fly, 
covering the leaves and fruit with a dense black growth which detracts greatly from 
the appearance of the oranges, and in order to prepare this smutty fruit for market, 
cleaning is absolutely necessary. The effects of the cleaning processes upon the carry- 
ing quality of the fruit will be described later. 

The market demands high-grade, well-packed fruit. As long as the supply of a 
commodity does not equal the demand, a poorer grade or a less attractive package 
may yield satisfactory returns to the shipper. With keen competition, however, 
and markets well stocked with good, carefully selected fruit arriving in sound condi- 
tion, the packer of a poor grade of fruit which frequently arrives in bad order is at a 
great disadvantage and suffers accordingly. 

METHODS OF HANDLING THE FLORIDA ORANGE CROP. 

The Florida orange begins to ripen in late October or early November, and the ship- 
ping season extends until spring, some growers of late varieties even holding their fruit 
on the trees until summer. Shipments are usually heavy during December, and in 
the past approximately 50 per cent of the crop has been shipped before Christmas. 
In fact, there has been a strong tendency to begin moving the fruit before it has reached 
full maturity. This practice has been stimulated because it frequently happens that 
these early shipments give satisfactory returns, and fruit moved at this time runs 
no risk of being frozen later in the season. The practice of placing on the market larse 
quantities of green fruit of poor eating quality is very objectionable, however, and 
does not stimulate future consumption of the product. 

During the past few years the tendency has been toward lengthening the marketing 
season. Instead of attempting to dispose of the bulk of the crop before the holidays, 
when a large proportion of the fruit has not reached full quality, the season has gradu- 
ally been extended, so that Florida citrus fruits are now moved in large quantities 
until the first of April, and even later. The influence of these changed conditions 
upon the occurrence of decay and deterioration at the market eud will be apparent in 
the later discussion of the occurrence of decay at different times during the shipping 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



PICKING THE FRUIT. 



Harvesting methods. — In harvesting the orange, it is necessary to sever the fruit from 
the trees by means of clippers or shears, the common type being a sharp-pointed 
clipper, such as is illustrated on the left in figure 2. Various other types are also in 
use at the present time, two of which are shown in figure 2. 

Since many of the orange trees in Florida are large, only a small proportion of the 
fruit can be reached from the ground. The ordinary straight ladder, placed directly 
against the tree, is in common use. In order to secure all of the fruit at the top or in 
the center of the tree, the picker must stretch over a considerable distance, and he is 
very liable to pull many of the oranges which he can not conveniently sever with his 
clippers. Worse than this, however, it has not been uncommon to see the fruit on 
the ends of the limbs shaken off and allowed to drop to the ground, later to be picked 
up and placed in the field boxes along with the fruit properly handled. 

Over the picker's shoulder is thrown a basket or bag in which the fruit is placed as 
clipped. The picking bag is sometimes an ordinary grain bag or gunny sack holding 
about 30 pounds of fruit; formerly, some men used a specially constructed bag which 
fastened around the body and frequently held nearly enough fruit to fill one of the 
boxes. The canvas-covered basket shown in Plate I, figure 1, holds approximately 
half of a box of fruit. Another type of picking receptacle, illustrated in Plate I, 
figure 2, has a hinged bot- 
tom which may be let down 
when emptying the fruit. 
The most common bag now 
in use is one made of heavy 
canvas and open at the bot- 
tom, so that the filled bag 
can be placed in the box 
and the fruit allowed to roll 
out gently. 

Field boxes. — The fruit is 
poured from the picking re- 
ceptacle into a field crate 
or box. The box in gen- 
eral use is about 28 inches 
long, 12 inches wide, and 
13$ inches deep, has a capacity of a little more than one packed box of fruit, and may 
or may not have a central partition. Both types are illustrated in Plate I, figures 1 and 
2. The size of this box was established through the practice of buying large quantities 
of fruit on the tree at a fixed price per box. Originally this price was intended to be 
per "packed box, "but since it is more convenient to keep the record of the fruit as it 
leaves the grove, this type of field box, which holds enough fruit to allow culling and 
still give the buyer a packed box of oranges, was developed . Other kinds of field boxes, 
some of which are superior to the old box, are in use to a limited extent. Plate II, 
figure 1, shows a type of grocer's delivery crate which some growers use for handling 
their oranges. 

The boxes in common use are constructed of such heavy material and hold such larg« 
quantities of fruit that it is impossible to handle theni with sufficient care. When 
loading them on the field wagon or unloading them at the packing house, or even 
when moving them about in the house, they oftentimes strike the floor with sufficient 
force to cause some of the fruit to bound out. The objection commonly raised to 
making boxes of lighter material is that the workmen will break them by rough han- 
dling, especially when throwing them off the wagon in the field. It is a question, 
however, whether the average laborer will not treat a lighter box more carefully than 
he will a heavy iron-bound one, which tempts him to see how roughly he can handle it. 




Fig. 2. — Three types of clippers used in picking Florida citrus fruits. 



6 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Plate II, figure 2 shows that the effort to make a field box strong enough to withstand 
"bucking" is not always successful. While it is difficult to estimate the amount of 
damage which may result from the use of such boxes., it is apparent that this is very 
great. 

An enumeration of some of the injuries received in picking will be found under 
the discussion of the causes of blue-mold decay. 

HAULING THE FRUIT. 

The fruit is hauled from the grove to the packing house on ordinary farm wagons, 
which are often springless, or on specially provided wagons belonging to an association. 
The owner of the grove or the manager of the packing house sometimes personally 
superintends this transfer, but frequently it is done by contract with the owner of a 
livery stable. There is usually a fixed price for this service, one large contractor 
receiving 2 cents per box per mile, which is about the average of what is paid in differ- 
ent parts of the State. The drivers are often ignorant of the importance of careful 
handling, and their methods of loading and unloading are extremely crude and rough. 
It is not uncommon to see them sitting on boxes of fruit as they ride to the packing 
house. The haul may be long and over rough roads (PL III, fig. 1), some packing 
houses handling many boxes of fruit from groves 12 or 15 miles distant, or even farther. 
Ox teams are often used for such long hauls (PI. Ill, fig. 2). It has e*en been the 
custom, in the past, to carry many oranges loose in the wagon box, the unloading 
being done with shovels or in other rough ways (PI. IV, fig. 1). This practice has 
been done away with, however, as it is recognized that good results can never be 
obtained by such careless methods. Along with the numerous improvements which 
have been effected during the past two or three years in the manner of hauling fruit 
from the grove to the packing house, must be reckoned the State-wide movement for 
better roads. 

PREPARING THE FRUIT FOR SHIPMENT. 

Buildings and ynachinery. — Packing houses are usually located in villages and towns 
along the railroad lines or in places accessible to water transportation. Many boxes 
of fruit, however, are packed either openly in the groves or in houses located near the 
farm buildings and are then hauled to a shipping point. Little attempt was made 
until recently to build houses especially designed for packing citrus fruit. The aver- 
age building usually had a capacity for handling not more than one car a day, very 
little machinery being used in the old houses and the boxes being made by hand, 
frequently in some place outside the packing house. This building generally con- 
sisted of but one room, the sizing machine being located in the center, a little below 
the main portion of the house, in what is called the "pit." One common source of 
trouble, even in the new-style houses, is the attempt to save floor space. The machin- 
ery may be so adjusted that the orange has to follow a long and complicated path, 
around abrupt angles, down gravity runs, and up unnecessary elevators, whereas 
in a majority of cases the same end could have been attained at less expense by means 
of a more simple arrangement. Simplicity should be the watchword in the adjustment 
of all packing-house equipment. Some houses have gone to the other extreme of 
doing practically all the work by hand, thus eliminating the expense of carrying belts 
and other automatic devices. The character of the workmen is then of fundamental 
importance, and it is d< mbtful whether, in the long run, hand work can be accomplished 
with as little injury as results from the use of properly adjusted, simple machinery. 

Fruit which was clean and did not require washing was formerly poured into a hop- 
per and rolled by gravity in front of the grader to the sizing machine. The latter 
was sometimes run by power, but more often it was treadled by the man who did the 
grading. As the oranges were sized they fell into different bins and from these were 



Plate I. 




Fiq. 1.— Emptying Oranges from a Picking Bag into a Field Crate, Showing an 
Incorrect Method, which Results in the Serious bruising of the Fruit. 




Fig. 2.— Florida Field Crate Without a Central Partition and One Type of 
Small Picking Receptacle Opening at the Bottom to Avoid Bruising the 
Fruit by Dropping. 

PICKING RECEPTACLES AND FIELD BOXES FOR FLORIDA CITRUS 

FRUITS. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept of Agriculture. 



Plate II. 




Fig. 1 .—Grocers' Deliver/ Crates Used by Some Growers for Holding Oranges. 

This crate supplies maximum ventilation and has no sharp corners or projections to 
injure the fruit. 




Fig. 2.— Broken Field Crates. 

The splinters, sharp edges, and projecting nails are common sources of serious injury to Florida 

citrus fruits. 



TYPES OF FIELD BOXES FOR CITRUS FRUITS IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agnculture. 



Plate Mr. 















';* 






i 


^:^£^bSM 


^* ""' >***"*""' : 



Fig. 1.— Haulinq Oranges Over Rough Roads on Wagons Without Springs. 

The jolting and jarring and the driver seated directly upon the fruit result in serious injury. 




Fig. 2.— Hauling Oranges by Teams of Oxen Hitched to Springless Wagons. 

TRANSPORTING FRUIT FROM THE GROVE TO THE PACKING HOUSE 

IN FLORIDA. 



Bui t"3, U. S Dept of Agriculture 



Plate IV. 




Fig. 1.— Grapefruit Carried Loose in the Bed of a Springless Wagon and Piled 

in the Grove. 

Note that the wagon driver is in the act of throwing fruit from the wagon to the pile. 




Fig. 2.— One Type of Orange Washer now in Use in Florida. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 7 

packed out (PI. V, figs. 1 and 2). In most of the houses at the present time the fruit 
is carried in front of the graders on canvas belts to the sizing machines, which arc 
usually run by power. The majority of the packers now wish to ship their fruit as 
soon after picking as possible. Some, however, still keep it for a couple of days to 
wilt or "cure," as the process is called. 

Cleaning. — During the past few years cleaning the fruit has become more and more 
necessary because of the spread of the white fly. At the present time probably 75 
per cent of the Florida orange crop is cleaned either by washing or by the sawdust 
method. Until some method of controlling the white fly has been discovered, it will 
be necessary to continue these processes and even to extend them to a larger propor- 
tion of the fruit. 

Various methods of washing are used, and many different types of washers are now 
in operation in the State. Some of the machines developed and used extensively in 
California have been installed, and other types have originated in Florida. The 
fruit is either dumped into a small hopper leading to a tank of water or is emptied 
directly into the water, and the cleaning process consists of passing the fruit, either 
while in the water or while still wet, over or between rapidly moving brushes, which 
remove the sooty coating from the skin (PL IV, fig. 2, and PL VI, fig. 1). A number 
of washers are used in which the cleansing is done by means of sponges or rags. 
After the fruit has been washed it is run through "artificial" forced-air blast driers 
or else elevated to drying racks (PL VI, fig. 2) and when dried is ready to be graded 
and sized. 

Another method of cleaning citrus fruits, especially grapefruit, is with sawdust. 
Large horizontal cylinders are completely filled with fruit, a few pounds of wet 
sawdust are added, and the cylinders are then revolved for 8 or 10 minutes by hand 
or other power. The movement of the sawdust over the surface of the fruit rubs off 
much of the dirt and sooty mold. No drying is required after this process (PI. VII, 
fig. 1). 

Grading. — There are no set rules for grading oranges and grapefruit in Florida. 
As a rule, only two classes are made, "blights" and "russets," in addition to a 
poorer grade which is shipped to near-by markets. The bright fruit is that which 
is free from the effects of the work of the rust mite, a small mite which punctures 
the oil cells in the skin of the fruit, causing the surface to become brownish in appear- 
ance. The russet grade is composed of fruit more or less affected by the work of the 
rust mite. Fruit affected with melanose, a disease common in many sections, is 
also usually placed in the russet grade. The russeting due to the work of the rust 
mites is quite characteristic of the Florida orange and has been almost a trade-mark 
for the fruit, the general impression prevailing in the North that such oranges are a 
distinct variety grown only in Florida. Consequently, this grade frequently brings 
as much money as bright fruit. It has never been determined that the work of the 
rust mites affects the quality of an orange or grapefruit. The number of mites 
varies considerably in different localities and even in groves in the same locality, 
and when present they may be largely controlled by the use of sulphur sprays or 
by dry sulphur blown upon the trees. 

A few packing houses in the State make more than two grades. The finest of the 
bright fruit may be packed as "fancy," or some of the brightest russets may be 
labeled "golden." There are no uniform rules in the State, however, and similar 
grades of fruit from different packing houses may be sold under different names. 
Moreover, all grading is without reference to the size of the fruit. As one man grades 
a car or more of fruit each day, the work can not be done very thoroughly. There 
is a string tendency at present to establish more definite grades and to secure better 
methods of grading (PI. VII, fig. 2). 

The sizes of Florida oranges vary from 80 to 420 fruits in a box, some fruit occa- 
sionally falling outside even these wide limits. The common sizes are 126, 150, 17G, 



8 BULLETIN 63, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

and 200 oranges to a box. When only two grades of fruit are made, a double sizing 
machine is commonly used, and both grades are sized at the same time (PI. VIII, 
figs. 1 and 2). 

The Florida grapefruits are packed with 28, 36, 46, 54, 64, 72, 80, or 96 fruits to the 
box, the most desirable sizes being 46, 54, and 64. The ''Standards" vary frum 54 
to 80. Fruits packed 46 to the box and larger are known as "large off sizes," grape- 
fruit being occasionally offered as large as 18 to the pack. This is more of a novelty 
than a commercial proposition, however. The ''small off sizes" are those packed 
96 to the box and smaller. Some of the regular orange-sizing machines can be 
adjusted for the sizing of grapefruit, but few of them are wholly satisfactory, on 
account of the variation in shape of the fruit. 

Packing. — Many houses now employ girls and women as packers, although formerly 
the work was done almost exclusively by men, who were usually paid by the day- 
High-grade work is done on the average, and considerable care is taken to have 
each orange put in its place with a little pressure. This makes a firm pack and one 
which is smooth and of good appearance. The box is filled an inch or more above 
the top, and when the cover is put on pressure is used to bring the fruit at the ends 
even with the top of the box. A few shippers fill their boxes much higher than 
this, thereby making necessary considerable pressure in order to nail on the cover. 
This type of package, known as the "bulge pack," was developed to meet the buyers' 
demands for a full box of fruit on arrival in market. High packing is often an excuse 
for poor packing, however, since oranges which are laid in the box loosely and without 
pressure must be forced into place when the cover is nailed on, thereby increasing 
the liability of crushing the fruit in the top layers. A pack which is of medium 
height, with every orange firmly in place, is less liable to be injured in transit than 
is a high, loose pack, and the fruit will arrive in market with a more attractive 
appearance and will remain in good condition for a longer period. 

The "nailer" takes the box after it is packed, and holding the cover across the 
fruit with both hands, he gives the box two or three sharp jolts upon the floor, first 
at one end, then at the other, before nailing it fast. Box presses are in use in a 
number of houses in the State. Whether the nailing is done by hand or with the 
aid of a press, care should be exercised to avoid injuring the contents of the top layer 
against the sides and ends of the box. Some pressmen have the habit of adjusting 
the covers after pressure has been applied by tapping the ends of the slats, but this 
scratches or rasps the fruit on top and serious injury sometimes results. The beveled 
ends, sides, and center pieces which are coming into general use are of great value in 
preventing injuries during the nailing operation. 

The Florida shipping box for both oranges and grapefruit measures 12 by 12 by 27 
inches, inside dimensions, and has an estimated weight of 80 pounds when filled. 
It is made with paneled heads, has sides of veneer in one piece, and is bound with 
three straps of birch or other wood. Wire hoops are now used extensively in place 
of the wooden straps. This makes a strong package, suitable for long-distance 
shipments. 

Shipping. — More attention than formerly is now being given to loading the fruit 
in the cars. It has been the custom to stack the boxes loosely in the cars, those in 
the lower tier standing on end and the rest placed lengthwise on top. On account 
of the strength of the box and the comparatively short haul, the loading is done 
rather carelessly, very little bracing being used, and often none at all. Although it 
is not common for the boxes to reach the market in a broken condition, considerable 
injury in transit is liable with a load of this kind. The better method now coming 
into general use in Florida is to stack the boxes two tiers high on end, using a car 
strip across each row and bracing the load securely in the middle. This insures a 
miuimum of broken boxes or other injury on arrival in market. 



Bui 63, U. S. Dept of Agriculture. 



Plate V. 




Fig. 1.— Extreme Type of Large Hopper Formerly in Use, the Size Being Indi- 
cated by the Size of the Mowing Machine at the Right. 

The fruit is emptied from outside through trap doors in the background, awagonload al a time. 
Serii ius injury i- caused by bruisiug ami by the twigs and other debris accumulating on the 
floor of the hopper. 




Fig. 2.— Antiquated Machinery for Grading and Sizing the Fruit. 

Note that the sizing machine is being treadled by the grader. Note also the large hopper at 

the rear. 



INTERIOR VIEWS OF OLD ORANGE-PACKING HOUSES IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63. U S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate VI. 



III! 




•mm 


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FtG. 1.— One Type of Orange-Washing Machine Used in Florida. 
The fruit is always in sight as it passes through the machine. 




Fig. 2.— Drying Florida Oranges in the Sun. 

Serious injury follows the use of unprotected brooms, and bruising from rolling over and 
dropping through steep gravity runs. 



Bui. 63, U S. Dept of Agriculture 



Plate VII. 




Fig. 1 .— A Sawdust Cleaner Filled with Grapefruit. 




Fig. 2.— Grading Belt Built by the Bureau Workers for Experimental Purposes 
to Replace the Large Hopper Shown in Plate V, Figure 1. 



PACKINGHOUSE MACHINERY IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. 5. Depi of Agriculture. 



Plate VIII. 




Fig. 1 .—Type of Orange Sizer, Hopper, and Bins Used in the Old Packing Houses 

in Florida. 




Fig. 2.— One Type of Sizing Machine in a Modern Packing House in Florida. 
ORANGE-SIZING MACHINES. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 9 

The length of time in transit from central Florida to Philadelphia or New York 
varies from four days to more than a week. There are several routes by which fruit 
may be shipped to northern points. It may go "all rail" by freight, either in car- 
loads or by local freight. Small consignments are sent by express to Savannah and 
from there by freight to their various destinations, and some fruit is shipped by water 
from both Jacksonville and Savannah. The rates to northern points vary somewhat 
by these different routes. Jacksonville is the basing point, and the "all rail" freight 
rate thence to Baltimore is 43 cents per box in carload lots. This rate to New York 
is 46 cents, to Boston 51 cents, to Pittsburgh 52 cents, and to Chicago 53 cents. The 
water rate from Jacksonville is 35 cents to New York and 40 cents to Boston. In less 
than carload lots the "all rail" freight rate to Baltimore is 47£ cents, to Boston 59 
cents, and to Chicago 97.2 cents. These rates apply on shipments moving through 
Jacksonville for points beyond. The rate is higher when the fruit is shipped to 
Jacksonville, the freight charges paid there, and the shipments rebilled to points 
beyond. In addition to the above charges the shipper has to pay the local freight 
from his shipping station to Jacksonville. This local freight rate per box is 15 cents 
from Orlando, 20 cents from Arcadia, and 26 cents from Miami. 

During 1912-13 there were 321 boxes in the average carload. A few men shipped 
400 or more boxes per car, but this practice should be discouraged. Such heavy load- 
ing leaves no space in which the air may circulate and affords a splendid opportunity 
for the development of decay in transit. The Florida car is smaller than the one used 
by the California shippers and should contain not more than 360 boxes. The inside 
measurements of the standard shipping car for oranges are 33 feet in length, 8 feet in 
width, and 84£ inches in height. The minimum freight weight of a standard car of 
300 boxes is therefore 24,000 pounds, reckoning each box at the arbitrary weight of 80 
pounds. The freight rate is assessed per box, the average rate on citrus fruits shipped 
from Florida during 1912-13 being 65.7 cents per box of 80 pounds' weight. A car of 
oranges may contain boxes of oranges of all sizes, the fruit being generally loaded in the 
cars " orchard run, " although some purchasers specify in advance the sizes desired. 

Refrigeration and ventilation. — Prior to the season of 1912-13, nearly all of the ship- 
ments of Florida citrus fruits were handled under ventilation. A few of the late 
oranges, especially Yalencias, have been shipped under refrigeration during the latter 
part of the season when the weather was warm either in Florida or while the fruit was 
in transit, but it is estimated that not more than 1 per cent of the shipments of citrus 
fruits were iced in any season previous to 1912. The conditions surrounding the 
citrus-fruit industry of Florida have been largely responsible for the lack of the proper 
facilities for the shipment of oranges under ice. Before the reorganization of the 
industry, following the introduction of modern handling and packing facilities, there 
was little or no opportunity to utilize refrigeration in transporting the citrus crop to 
market. A large proportion of the fruit was handled in local consignments to central 
points, such as Jacksonville, Fla. , or Savannah, Ga. , and at these gateway cities carload 
shipments were made up. In some instances the fruit was sent by boat to Jackson- 
ville or Savannah and thence forwarded north by railroad. During the past three or 
four years this practice has changed to a very great extent, and at the present time only 
a small proportion (if any) of the shipments of Florida citrus fruits are assembled after 
local shipment at the central points mentioned. Packing houses equipped with 
modern appliances have been erected throughout the State. Full carloads are now 
made up at these houses and the fruit is shipped north direct from the point of produc- 
tion or packing. The opportunities for utilizing refrigeration have thus been increased, 
as the fruit can now be loaded direct into iced cars instead of being first shipped locally 
in unprotected " ventilator ' ' or box cars. 

The prevailing opinion among fruit growers and shippers formerly has been that 
Florida citrus fruits do not need refrigeration. Practically the entire crop is moved 
23103°— Bull. 63— Li 2 



10 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

during the winter and early spring months, when the prevailing outdoor temperature 
is low, so low at times that the problem has been to protect the fruit from freezing rather 
than to reduce its temperature by artificial means. During periods of extremely cold 
weather refrigeration may be a distinct disadvantage rather than otherwise. With the 
present refrigerator-car equipment, the insulation provided to keep the fruit cool 
during transit must also be relied upon to protect the fruit from freezing. This it does 
by retarding the cooling of the fruit and reducing its temperature very slowly, thus 
enabling the car to reach the market before the contents are actually frozen. It is easy 
to see that the length of time required to cool the fruit to an injurious extent depends 
upon (1) the outdoor temperature, (2) the efficiency of the insulation of the car, and (3) 
the temperature of the fruit at the time the car encounters extreme weather conditions 
in the North. 

The present-day refrigerator car is only partially efficient during extreme weather. 
There are many types of refrigerator cars with varying insulation, but none are able 
to withstand extreme cold for any considerable length of time without the use of 
artificial heat, just as they are unable to keep the contents cool in hot weather with- 
out the use of ice. It follows, then, that under ordinary conditions during cold 
weather fruit which has been cooled by the use of ice during the early part of the 
trip from Florida will be more liable to injury from freezing than fruit which has not 
been so cooled before it is subjected to extremely cold weather. The appreciation of 
this point is of great importance in discussing the refrigeration of Florida oranges, 
because a very large proportion of the crop is moved during periods of excessively 
cold weather in the North, although the temperature in Florida may be sufficiently 
high to warrant the use of ice at the beginning of the trip. 

The investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry have amply demonstrated that 
Florida oranges may be transported to market under ventilation with a minimum 
loss from decay, even during periods of warm and humid weather, if sufficient care is 
used to preserve the skin of the fruit in a sound, unbroken condition. None of the 
experimental shipments commented upon in this paper were refrigerated. The use 
of refrigeration during transit to market must not be considered as a means to offset 
the effects of rough or careless methods of handling. Icing can not permanently 
prevent deterioration. The low temperature only temporarily arrests the develop- 
ment of the decay fungi. As soon as the fruit has been unloaded in market it warms 
up, and decay develops very rapidly if a considerable number of the oranges have 
been injured by careless handling. As a result such fruit soon gains a reputation for 
very poor market-holding qualities. It is as important to have the fruit reach the con- 
sumer in good condition as it is to have it arrive in the market sound. 

A considerable number of shipments were iced during the season of 1912-13, 
especially during January and during a later period of warm, humid weather, when 
heavy decay developed in nearly all shipments. It is safe to say that the number of 
cars handled under refrigeration during this season was greater than during all pre- 
vious seasons together. Many of the shippers claim that they have been able to 
place the fruit on the market in much better condition when shipped under refriger- 
ation than when shipped under ventilation only. This conclusion is based upon a 
comparison of iced and noniced shipments. It is probable, however, that the com- 
parison was not always fair, for the reason that no systematic study was made of the 
behavior of fruit of the same grade and quality under the two systems of shipment. 
Nevertheless, the general opinion prevails among growers and shippers that icing has 
resulted in material benefit to the fruit and has yielded increased returns. Refriger- 
ation, therefore, bids fair to become an important factor in the handling and ship- 
ment of the Florida citrus crop. 

During the past season, with its periods of excessively high decay, the Florida 
Citrus Exchange strongly urged its members to move their fruit north under refriger- 
ation, The recommendations of the exchange officials, in brief, provided (1) that the 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



11 



ice should be put in the tanks 24 hours before loading the fruit, and preferably 4S 
hours previous, in order to properly cool the cars; (2) that the boxes of oranges should 
be stacked near to the car and when the doors were opened the loading should com- 
mence immediately and not consume more than one hour; (3) that the doors should 
then be tightly closed and the car moved forward immediately. Since the refriger- 
ating rates are per car and not per box, some growers loaded the cars very heavily 
this past season, shipping 400 or 500 boxes per car, in order to reduce the refrigerating 
charge per box. This left no room for ventilation or circulation of air, and as a result 
decay was heavy, especially in the top tiers. Boxes should not be loaded more than 
2 tiers high and no car should contain more than 360 boxes. These may be loaded 
6 rows across, 30 boxes long and 2 tiers high, on end. 

Many refrigerator cars were shipped under one-half icing during 1912-13. When 
the fruit was very soft or from groves known to be diseased, full icing was found to be 
necessary. Table I gives the refrigerating rates for half icing from Florida to various 
points throughout the United States, these being in addition to the regular rates for 
transportation. When the entire ice bunker is filled, the charges are increased 50 per 
cent above those for half-bunker icing. For example, when the half-bunker rate to 
New York is $50 per car, the full-bunker rate is $75. 



Table I. 



-Rates per car for half icing from Florida to points in the United States, season 
of 191 :-l,',. 



To southern points. 


To eastern points. 


To northern and western points. 


In State of— 


Rate. 


From Jacksonville. 


Rate. 


In State of— 


Rate. 




S35. 00 
40.00 

45. 00 
40.00 
45. 00 
45.00 
62.50 
35.00 
35.00 

45.00 


Taking rate of — 

43 cents per box 

44 cents per box 

40 cents per box 

45 cents per box 

50 cents per box 

51 cents per box 

52 cents per box 

55 cents per box or 
higher 


845. 00 
45.00 
50.00 
45.00 
50.00 
55.00 
50.00 
55.00 

55.00 


Ohio 


$50.00 






50.00 


Tennessee (except to Chat- 




55.00 




50.00 


To Chattanooga 




55.00 




55.00 






55.00 






55.00 






62.50 




55.00 


Virginia (as to Lynch- 
burg, Norfolk, Rich- 
mond, Roanoke, and 




55.00 











MARKETING THE FRUIT. 

Noncooperative buyers. — Most of the Florida citrus fruits have been handled on the 
market by fruit buyers and speculators. Large quantities have been bought on the 
trees, either in bulk or at a fixed price per box, by local buyers who own packing 
houses in near-by towns. There are many such buyers, and, although very few of 
them are growers, they purchase enough fruit each year to pack and ship thousands 
of boxes. The largest part of the Florida citrus crop has been handled in this manner 
in recent years, the picking and hauling being done under the direction and at the 
expense of the buyers. These men have regular customers to whom they make ship- 
ments, and they also consign large quantities of fruit to commission houses. If a 
grower desires to pack his own fruit, he may be able to sell it before shipping it, but 
usually he consigns the cars to a commission man whose agent has solicited his trade. 
If the grower is doing business with a reliable firm, the success of this method depends 
largely upon having a good grade of fruit which is packed in an attractive manner and 
reaches the market in sound condition . Since most of the commission houses operating 
in Florida are located in the larger northern and eastern cities, the heavy shipments 
of fruit to these points often cause the market to be glutted with Florida oranges. 



12 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Several large selling agencies are now operating in Florida and are handling much 
of the citrus fruit. These firms may or may not be directly concerned with the grading 
and packing of the fruit. Although in a few instances they control this portion of the 
work almost entirely, and so are able to offer for sale large quantities of fruit of a rather 
uniform grade, their primary aim is to handle for the packers all matters ]>ertaining to 
the sale of the crop. They claim to be able to keep a closer watch on the markets 
and on general trade conditions than an individual grower or packer can possibly do, 
and, by means of competent sales agents throughout the country, to be able to control 
the distribution of the product so as to avoid gluts and the resultant low prices. Their 
selling charge may be a flat rate per box, but more often the business is conducted on a 
percentage basis. 

Florida Citrus Exchange. — The movement for cooperative marketing, begun during 
the season of 1909-10, gained considerable headway among the citrus fruit growers 
of the State and resulted in the formation of the Florida Citrus Exchange. The 
organization was modeled after the California Fruit Growers' Exchange, which hag 
been successfully packing and marketing a large percentage of the citrus fruits of 
California for a number of years. During its first season (1909-10) the Florida Citrus 
Exchange handled more than 1,000,000 boxes of fruit. 

The Florida Citrus Exchange is composed of a number of cooperative associations 
throughout the State. These are made up of individual growers who form a corpora- 
tion, build a packing house, elect a manager, determine the grades under which 
their fruit is to be shipped, and attend to all the business directly connected with the 
harvesting, packing, and shipping of the fruit. The cooperative packing houses 
located in any one of the several citrus districts of the State unite to form a subex- 
change, whose manager has charge of the larger business interests of the houses in his 
district, keeping in close touch with the central offices of the exchange, and advising 
with them regarding the qualities and grades of fruit in the various cars shipped, the 
methods of packing employed, and all other matters regarding which a selling agency 
should be well informed. A union of the various sub-exchanges forms the Florida 
Citrus Exchange, which has its headquarters at Tampa. This is an incorporated body, 
with a board of directors and officers for carrying on the business of marketing the 
product. , Representatives of the exchange, who are paid on a salary basis, are located 
in the various trade centers and have charge of the sale of the fruit. 

The fruit of the individual grower may be handled in the packing house as a sepa- 
rate account; or it may be packed under certain grades, a record being kept of the 
number of boxes of each grade made from the fruit of that grower, whose identity is 
lost as soon as this amount has been recorded. When the latter plan is followed, the 
season is generally divided into periods of several weeks in length, called pools, the 
receipts for all fruit shipped during each period being averaged by grades. The 
individual grower receives a pro rata share of the proceeds, determined by the quantity 
of each grade of fruit which he has delivered at the packing house during that pool. 
In a few packing houses one pooling period extends over the whole season, and the 
only average made is based upon the proceeds of the entire crop. 

KEEPING QUALITY OF FLORIDA ORANGES. 

The keeping quality of the orange is naturally good. Since the life processes of 
the fruit continue after it has been severed from the branch, there is a prolonged 
period during which an uninjured orange remains sound and free from all decay. 
Ultimately, when the life span has been run, the tissues die and decay follows even 
in uninjured fruits. The delay is long enough, however, to allow the average fruit to 
be packed and placed on the market and to reach the consumer in sound condition. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 13 

HEAVY LOSSES FROM DECAY IN COMMERCIAL SHIPMENTS. 

The losses from decay during transit have been very heavy in the commercial ship- 
ments of fruit, and the experimental work of the Bureau of Plant Industry was under- 
taken in Florida in response to the many requests for advice and assistance which 
came to the Department of Agriculture. It is difficult to estimate what the actual 
loss from this cause has been during past seasons. Several reliable commission men 
who handle large quantities of Florida oranges each year have stated that averaging 
the good with the bad years probably 10 per cent of the fruit decayed before reaching 
the consumer. Experimental shipments made under the direction of this bureau 
indicate that the loss may have been fully as heavy as this. 

Since Florida's orange crop averages 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 boxes per year, the 
decay of 8 or 10 per cent of this fruit, entails an annual financial loss of at least half a 
million dollars. Ten per cent of 4,000,000 boxes amounts to 400,000 boxes, on which 
the picking and packing charges have been paid, with approximately $50,000 spent 
for box material alone. The freight charges represent something like $200,000; and 
these amounts, together with the commission charges, the value of the fruit discarded, 
and the cost of repacking what is left, bring the total loss high enough to seriously 
endanger the welfare of the industry. 

REPUTATION INJURED BY DECAY IN TRANSIT. 

Unfortunately, the financial injury is not confined to the fruit actually decayed. 
It is impossible to estimate the loss which has resulted to the industry from the bad 
reputation which Florida fruits have gained in the trade. While it is difficult to dis- 
cover how far the low prices occasionally received have been due to this cause, many 
fruit handlers in northern markets condemn very strongly the poor keeping quality 
of the Florida orange and willingly admit their intention of using fruit of better 
keeping quality if they can obtain such from other points. The situation of the 
Florida orange grower would be critical indeed it" it were not for the fact that fruit 
handled carefully shows so much less decay than does fruit picked and packed under 
careless commercial conditions. 

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT WORK IN FLORIDA. 

Investigations by the Department of Agriculture, having in view the discovery of 
the factors underlying the successful shipment of oranges from Florida to northern 
markets, began during the season of 1907. The work, which was planned along lines 
similar to those followed in the California investigations, included the determination 
of the character and type of handling employed in the various operations of preparing 
fruit for shipment and the discovery of the relationship between present methods 
and the occurrence of decay. The object of the work of the department was to sug- 
gest changes in the industry which should reduce the immense annual financial losses 
of the Florida growers by enabling them to market their fruit in sound condition. 

The first researches in Florida were conducted by Mr. L. S. Tenny, who devoted 
his attention to an inspection of the work done by various picking crews and individual 
pickers, as well as to the character of work being done in the packing houses. It 
required only a short time to indicate that what had previously been found to be the 
case in California was also true in Florida, viz, that the fruit was receiving consider- 
able injury in the course of its preparation for shipment. Conditions were, if any- 
thing, somewhat more exaggerated, owing to the fact that the thin-skinned, juicy 
Florida orange is of a more tender type and is more easily injured than the bulk of 
the oranges grown in California. It is safe to say that the kind of handling which 
would enable the California orange to go through the various picking and packing 
operations without injury is not safe for the Florida product. The importance of 
avoiding dropping or puncturing by long stems is most urgent when dealing with 



14 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

thin-skinned, juicy fruit. The necessity of handling with extreme care so perishable 
a product as the Florida orange can not be too strongly emphasized. 

After the determination of the character of work being done and the discovery that 
considerable injury was being inflicted on Florida fruit, the investigations were so 
planned as to determine whether it was practicable to handle the fruit with sufficient 
care to prevent injury. At first demonstrations corresponding to those carried on in 
California were made in the packing houses, using fruit selected for soundness and 
similar lots showing injuries of various kinds. The effects of dropping the fruit and of 
washing it to remove sooty mold were also demonstrated. These lines of work proved 
conclusively that blue mold develops wherever the skin of the orange is injured in any 
way, and that dropping is followed by serious decay, especially when the fruit falls 
into a receptacle containing dry twigs, gravel, splinters, or other matter rough enough 
to bruise or puncture the skin. 

After the packing-house demonstrations, showing that sound, uninjured Florida 
oranges are not affected with blue-mold decay, shipping experiments under com- 
mercial conditions were undertaken. These experiments consisted of forwarding 
boxes of fruit of known history to Washington, where the percentages of decay were 
carefully determined on the day of arrival and after one, two, and three weeks, the 
fruit meantime being held under ordinary open-market conditions. 

These experiments were followed during five successive seasons, thus enabling the 
investigators to determine the effect of seasonal influences. The data obtained during 
1910-11 and 1911-12, when the work was undertaken on a more extensive scale than in 
the former seasons, corroborated the early results without exception, and the carrying 
quality of the Florida orange when packed and shipped in sound condition was 
proved to be as good as that of the California product. An injured orange, whether 
grown in California or in Florida, will decay whenever the conditions for the develop- 
ment of blue mold are favorable. A sound orange in good, healthy condition, whether 
grown in California or in Florida, is able to resist blue-mold decay. 

BLUE-MOLD DECAY OF THE ORANGE. 

Indications of decay. — The characteristic appearance of the orange decayed by blue 
mold is too well known to need description. Every handler of citrus f nuts knows blue 
mold, which is by far the most common form of decay. The grower frequently sees it 
in the oranges hanging upon the trees, when the fruit has split or has been injured by 
thorns or twigs. He finds it in the fruit which has dropped to the ground . The packer 
sees it in the cull, pile or in the boxes of fruit left standing in the house for a few days. 
The receiver of the fruit finds the decay as the boxes are opened, and frequently he 
smells it before removing the covers. 

The first indication of decay is a small area of soft tissue at some point on the surface 
of the fruit. This increases rapidly in extent if the weather is moist and warm, and 
within a day or two a bluish or greenish spot develops. If weather conditions continue 
favorable, the entire fruit is rotted within a few days, and the surface is generally coated 
with a bluish or greenish blue mat or powdery covering. 

BLUE-MOLD FUNGUS. 

Blue-mold decay is caused by the growth of a minute organism within the tissues 
of the fruit. Laboratory experiments have shown this organism to be a fungus of the 
genus Penicillium, which includes the familiar blue mold or mildew on bread, on the 
surface of canned fruit, and on other vegetable matter. Growth takes place within 
the orange, the bluish mat on the skin being composed of the fruiting bodies made up 
of chains of spores, massed together in great numbers. The fungus is spread by means 
of these spores, which, like the seeds of many higher plants, germinate and grow as 
soon as they find lodgment under conditions favorable for their development. They 



SHIPMENT OP ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 15 

require heat and moisture, and when these are present growth proceeds at a very rapid 
rate. The blue-mold fungiis has not the power to penetrate the sound living tissue of 
a well-grown fruit; hence, there must be a break or an abrasion of so'me kind in the skin, 
through which the disease may find an entrance. When growth has once started, even 
in a small way, the fungus is capable of killing the surrounding tissues and thus produc- 
ing material on which to grow. This process continues until the entire fruit is de- 
stroyed. If, therefore, a fungous spore is present and lodges in an injured spot, the 
initial step toward decay has been taken, and if the temperature and moisture condi- 
tions during the next few days are favorable, the development of the fungus proceeds 
rapidly and the orange is almost sure to rot. Many experiments have been made in 
California and Florida packing houses in placing spores on fresh injuries, and, without 
exception, the characteristic decay has resulted. On the other hand, large quantities 
of fruit have been held under weather conditions most favorable to the development of 
decay, and the results prove that fruit which has been so carefully handled as to pre- 
serve the skin in an uninjured condition shows practically no decay even when the 
surface has been purposely covered with spores. The development of decay is most 
rapid during warm, moist weather, fruit packed during a cool, dry period frequently 
reaching the market without much waste even though injuries are present. Under 
changed atmospheric conditions, the same fruit may arrive in a badly decayed condi- 
tion. During an average Florida winter there are usually periodical warm spells. 
Reports of general heavy decay at the market end can almost without exception be 
traced to fruit packed and shipped during these warm periods. 

With this understanding of the nature and cause of the most common form of decay, 
it becomes easy to see how the harvesting and handling methods may have an impor- 
tant bearing on the keeping quality of the fruit. If these are such as to break the skin 
or injure the orange, even slightly, favorable conditions for the development of blue- 
mold decay exist and such decay is almost certain to result, as observation has shown 
that the spores of the blue mold are present practically everywhere. It is safe to say 
that most of the decay occurring in Florida oranges while in transit is due to blue mold. 
There is some loss in transit from decay due to other forms of rot, but this is usually 
very slight as compared with the loss from blue mold. 

CAUSES OF BLUE-MOLD DECAY. 

Since the principal means of securing oranges of good keeping quality is by elimi- 
nating mechanical injuries to the fruit, the occurrence of decay is therefore closely 
connected with the handling methods in use in the grove and packing house. 

Thorn punctures, which are made while the fruit is still on the tree, are among 
the first injuries to which citrus fruits are subjected. These are generally unavoidable, 
as during every wind storm a certain percentage of the fruit is injured by being blown 
against thorns. The puncturing which occurs when the fruit is being picked may be 
prevented, however, although it is frequently difficult to handle the oranges with 
sufficient care to avoid pressure against thorns or dried twigs when these are present 
in large numbers. Fruit is often bruised when the ladder is placed carelessly in the 
tree or when the sack is allowed to strike or is pressed against the branches or ladder. 
(PI. IX, figs. 1 and 2.) Moreover, filling the field boxes so high that the fruit pro- 
jects above the top will result in crushing the oranges when the boxes are stacked 
one on top of another. The oranges may be bruised on their way from the grove to 
the packing house by being jolted over rough roads in springless wagons. The driver 
of each wagon should be given a specially prepared seat and not allowed to sit upon 
the fruit. 

Among the most common forms of injury may be mentioned scratches made by the 
finger nails of the pickers and packers, each of whom should be required to wear 
gloves. It is comparatively easy for packers, especially if their finger nails are long, 



16 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

to seriously injure a large percentage of the oranges which they handle. Pome packers 
also do a great deal of harm by dragging the oranges around in the bins and by tossing 
the off sizes into the neighboring bins. Abrasions due to the presence of gravel, 
twigs, splinters, protruding nails, or other foreign matter in the picking receptacles, 
field boxes, or packing bins may have far-reaching consequences. 

Bruises caused by dropping the fruit in the various stages of picking or packing 
have been found to cause serious loss from decay. There are a number of places 
where oranges may be greatly damaged by dropping. First of all, the picker may 
toss them carelessly into his picking basket or bag. Careless pickers frequently 
throw the oranges into the open receptacle by means of a shove with the clippers, 
the fruit sometimes falling as far as 3 or 4 feet. Serious damage may also result from 
emptying the fruit roughly into the field box. Plate I, figure 1, shows how the bag 
or basket may be held too far above the box and the fruit allowed to fall too great 
a distance. In case the bottom of the box is covered with twigs or small pieces of dirt 
the injury is greater. A sack which opens only at the top and from which the fruit 
must be poured into the boxes is likely to cause severe damage because of the bumps 
to which the fruit is subjected. Usually no greater care is observed when emptying 
the fruit into the field box and from that into the hopper of the washer, grader, or sizing 
machine. The washing machine provides excellent opportunities for the infliction 
of mechanical injuries and for infection from dirty water. This phase of the subject 
will be discussed later. 

Decayed fruit and trash should not be left in the boxes or allowed to accumulate on 
the floor and under the packing bins. The slightest breeze will scatter great quan- 
tities of blue-mold spores from these rotted oranges over all the fruit in the house. 
A clean, well-lighted packing house greatly diminishes decay by reducing the chances 
of infection. It has a beneficial influence on the workmen as well, offering a great 
incentive to better work. Moreover, a clean packing house is a good indication of 
the character of work being done throughout and indicates whether genuine efforts 
are being made to improve the methods of handling. 

The hopper into which the fruit is emptied has always been the source of much 
injury to citrus fruits in Florida. In the old style of packing house, existing before 
the work of the Bureau of Plant Industry was begun, the hopper was frequently large 
enough to hold a wagonload of fruit. Few, if any, of these are now in use. Even the 
more desirable small hopper was constructed with such a steep gravity run that the 
fruit was subjected to a severe bump on reaching the bottom. In going through the 
machinery or over the grading table other chances for injury occurred, and the final 
drop into the packing bin was sure to add several bruises. The desirable hopper has 
padded sides and allows the fruit to be emptied gradually by means of moving belts, 
which carry the fruit to the washing machine or grading belt; it is not necessary for the 
fruit to fall by gravity at any stage of its journey. 

The most serious form of injury, however, is made by the clippers in removing the 
fruit from the tree. These clipper cuts are not as prevalent in Florida oranges as was 
found to be the case in the California fruit, for the reason that the Florida oranges are 
round and do not have the depression at the stem end which exists in the Washington 
Navel. Nevertheless, enormous damage has been done to the Florida fruits either 
by cutting the skin near the stem end when severing them from the branch or by 
puncturing them with the points. It is essential to have the ends of the clippers 
rounded or blunted in order to eliminate the possibility of piercing the fruit. 

The presence of long stems on the oranges may be reckoned as equally disastrous. 
For this reason, in determining the character of work being done by a picking crew 
or individual picker long stems are included as imperfections. A long stem is just 
as serious, if not more dangerous, than an orange which has been injured in some way. 
The latter decays, but this rot seldom affects a neighboring orange; whereas a long 
stem has ample opportunity to injure a number of fruits in their progress from the tree 



Bui. 63, U S. Dept of Agriculture. 



Plate IX. 




Id U) 

o 

O -1 
< < 



<- t 




Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate X. 







Fig. 1.— Old Packing House in Florida. 

Showing a water tank made of an old wine cask and a idle of field boxes 90 per cent of which 
were broken or splintered. 




Fig. 2.— Old Packing House in Florida. 
Showing the method of emptying the fruit into the hopper from outside. 

TYPES OF OLD PACKING HOUSES IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XI. 




Fig. 1.— A One-Story Commodious Building Conveniently Arranged for 
Handling Citrus Fruits. 




Fig. 2.— A Two-Story Building with Excellent Facilities for Packing and 
Shipping Citrus Fruits. 



EXTERIOR VIEWS OF MODERN PACKING HOUSES IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XII. 





j, 


*k 


$ *' «3'*'*<. ^A^^^B^fc^^*^«fc! _ 


,jt 


^^1 


■fsfe- 






^^^^ ? 


itI-i 


jl 4*^ 


!SHH3SH 







Fig. 1.— An Old Building Formerly Used for Packing Citrus Fruits. 

Note the cradeness of arrangement, the boxes of grapefruit stacked outside, and the many 

broken neld crates. 




Fig. 2.— The Modern Building which has Replaced the One Shown in Figure I. 



ANTIQUATED AND MODERN TYPES OF FRUIT-PACKING HOUSES IN 

FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XIII. 




Fig. 1.— Packing Citrus Fruits in a Poorly Lighted and Overcrowded Room. 




Fig. 2.— Grading Citrus Fruits by Lantern Light at Midday. 
INTERIOR VIEWS OF TWO OF THE OLD PACKING HOUSES IN FLORIDA. 



Bui 63, U. S. Dept. of Agncultur< 



Plate XIV. 




Fig. 1.— Corner of a Well-Lighted Building. 

Showing the type of machinery used for grading citrus fruits. The interior of this building is 
shown in Plate XI, Figure 2. 




Fig. 2.— General View of a Clean, Well-Arranged Building. 
Showing new equipment fur handling citrus fruits. 



INTERIORS OF MODERN PACKING HOUSES IN FLORIDA. 



Bui. 63, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XV. 




SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 17 

to the packing box. A sharp, ragged fragment of stem projecting from the orange 
will injure all the fruit with which it comes in contact in the picking bag, field box, 
brusher, washer, or \ acking bin. When it is considered that long stems are probably 
the most common imperfections found in the work of the Florida crews, the importance 
of giving particular attention to the picking becomes apparent. In most instances 
it is impossible to avoid leaving long stems, unless the so-called double cut is made. 
This means that the fruit is first severed from the tree with a stem half an inch long, 
which is trimmed off when the fruit is held in the hands of the picker. This enables 
the workman to cut closely and carefully without danger of clipper cutting, and at 
the same time it prevents him from throwing or "shooting" the fruit into the picking 
receptacle. Actual experience shows that it requires very little more time to make 
the double cut, and when the picker becomes accustomed to clipping in this way he 
can operate practically as fast as with the old method, where he has to use care to 
prevent clipper cutting. Of course, it takes longer to make a careful double cut than 
to pay no attention to the character of the work performed. Since the picker is fre- 
quently unable to see the stem when the orange is on the tree, he consumes much 
time in adjusting his clippers in the right position. In making the double cut he is 
not concerned with the placing of his clippers, simply reaching out and severing the 
orange with a stem long enough to avoid contact between the fruit and the clippers; 
then when he holds it in plain sight he can easily make a smooth, close cut. 

EVOLUTION OF THE FLORIDA CITRUS INDUSTRY. 

The results of the bureau investigations emphasize the importance of having the 
fruit arrive in market in good condition and of having it remain sound while in the 
hands of the wholesale and retail dealers. Shippers are frequently of the opinion 
that their interest in the condition of the fruit does not extend beyond the percentage 
of decay found on arrival. It is realized that buyers can claim allowance for such 
decay, and consequently shippers are usually anxious to prevent it. In their opinion 
any decay which results after the fruit is purchased is the buyer's loss. This impres- 
sion is erroneous, for the decay which develops after the fruit is in market is just as 
direct a loss to the growers and shippers as that whichappears during transit. Although 
the shipper does not have to make a cash allowance for decay occurring during the 
market-holding period, brands which fail to remain in good condition lose their reputa- 
tion and ordinarily do not command as high prices as do those which are known for 
their good market-holding quality. The wholesale and retail merchants want oranges 
upon which, they can depend to remain in sound condition. For such fruit they 
are willing to pay a premium, while fruit which develops a high percentage of decay 
before it can be sold has nothing but its cheapness to recommend it. A grower or 
shipper who consigns carelessly or poorly packed fruit with the expectation that it 
will remain sound until it gets into market deceives no one but himself. He may be 
able to dispose of a few cars at fair prices, but the buyers soon learn what to expect 
and prices fall accordingly. Fruit which develops a high percentage of decay while 
in the market is the poorest kind of an advertisement, not only for the br.and under 
which it is packed, but also for the section of the State from which it is shipped. 

In many cases growers and packers are anxious to do careful work, but they do 
not realize how many factors there are in the handling operations which may cause 
injury and therefore decay. They do not appreciate what careful handling means, 
and they underestimate its importance until the results are demonstrated to them. 
Injmies causing decay in citrus fruits while in transit and in market may occur from 
operations through which the fruit is put from the time it is taken from the tree until 
it is placed in the packing box. It is the prevention of these injuries in grove and 

23103°— Bull. 63—14 3 



18 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

packing house that makes up careful handling, and both grower and packei are con- 
cerned in knowing how they are caused and how they may be eliminated. 

At the time the department investigations were started the methods of handling 
Florida citrus fruits for shipment were extremely crude. Growers did their own 
picking, there was no uniformity of system, and the work was performed only indif- 
ferently well . These statements are not meant to reflect in any way upon the standing 
of the industry or to criticize the individuals who were concerned with the preparation 
of the fruit for market. Practically all of the imperfections were due to a lack of 
knowledge on the part of the growers and shippers and not to their desire to slight any 
of the important work. No one realized the effects of injury to the fruit, and few, 
if any, believed that injury was being inflicted. Growers and packers frequently 
greeted the department workers with the statement that practically no injury was 
being done to their fruit, whereas later examination often showed 15 or 20 per cent of 
their oranges to be injured in some way. The scattered nature of the industry was 
largely responsible for the crudeness with which the work was carried on. The old 
neighborhood competition in the production of high-grade, attractive fruit disap- 
peared after the freeze, when the plantings were distributed so widely over central 
and southern Florida. Groves were more or less isolated, and a grower was frequently 
wholly ignorant of the type of work being done by other producers of citrus fruits. 

When the department investigations were begun it seemed almost hopeless to expect 
that the results of the work could be made effective. The importance of getting in 
touch with every grower and shipper was realized from the start, yet without some 
central organization through which these individuals could be reached it seemed 
impossible to expect that improvements in the methods of handling could be 
inaugurated. 

The changes which have taken place in Florida during the past five years are truly 
remarkable. The old type of packing house has almost entirely disappeared (PI. X, 
figs. 1 and 2). Modern houses, equipped with the newest machinery for handling fruit 
properly, have been constructed in practically every citrus district in the State (Tls. 
X I and XII ), so that at the present time the industry is particularly well provided with 
the mechanical appliances for doing good work. Plate XIV shows two views of clean, 
well-lighted, modern packing-house interiors as contrasted with the dark and crowded 
rooms of the old houses (PI. XIII). The attitude of the growers and packers has 
changed more slowly, however. The department has conducted a large number of 
field demonstrations in order to educate pickers to the necessity of careful work, and 
although much has been accomplished in this line, as is shown by the tabulated 
figures given later on, much still remains to be done. The introduction of better hand- 
ling methods is largely a business problem. It has to do with the reorganization of the 
forces of workmen and with the method of paying them rather than with the discovery 
of the cause of a particular form of decay. 

In California the occurrence of injury in preparing the fruit for shipment was asso- 
ciated with the way in which the work was done. The pickers were paid by the box, 
and naturally each man was ambitious to pick as many boxes as possible during the 
day, irrespective of the character of'his work. A premium was thus placed on rough 
handling. Several large companies, employing hundreds of men, demonstrated that 
by changing from the box-payment to the day-payment plan and by insisting upon 
careful work they could practically eliminate all picking injuries. A change in the 
plan of payment is not, in itself, sufficient to bring about better work, however; the 
workmen must be properly organized and supervised, and each individual picker must 
be held responsible for the character of his work. In California a change from the 
individual grower doing his own picking to the plan of association picking crews 
resulted in very great improvement in the character of the work. The same plan has 
more recently been carried out in Florida with very beneficial results. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



19 



INSPECTIONS OF PICKING CREWS AND FOREMEN. 

Careful inspections of the work being done in different parts of the State have been 
made during practically every season since the work has been in progress. Table II 
and its accompanying diagram (fig. 3) show the average percentages of imperfections 

found in the work of a num- 
ber of picking crews in the 
course of the comprehen- 
sive field inspections made 
by the department investi- 
gators during the seasons 
of 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



/S/0-/9// | 
/&//-/9/2i 



| /Z.S'fo 



i/8.3% 



Fig. 3.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in the 
work of a number of picking crews inspected during 1910-11 and 
1911-12. 



Table II. — Imperfections in the work of a number of picking crews inspected during 

1910-11 and 1911-12. 



Class of imperfections. 



Clipper cuts. 
Long stems . . 
Tidied 



Per cent. 
4.2 
12.9 
2.8 



Per cent, 
3.3 
18.3 
2.7 



1 A verages of 64 inspections of 51 crews. 



2 Averages of 35 inspections of 34 crews. 



Since the crews which were inspected were located in different sections of the State, 
the percentages given in the table and graphically shown in figure 3 as the averages 
of all inspections represent very closely the type of work being done throughout Florida ; 
they indicate tlie necessity for more careful attention to the details of picking and to 
the organization of the picking crews. This seems the most difficult reform to bring 
about, yet no permanent improvement in the carrying quality of Florida oranges will 
be reached until the field-handling operations are completely changed. 

It is also necessary to devote more attention to inspecting the work of individual 
pickers. Table III and its accompanying diagram i fig. 4) show (lie results of the 



cr?ew paid 
By 




Fig. 4.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in the work of different picking crews 
paid by the day and by the box, showing the variation in injury, 1910-11. 

inspections of different picking crews in different parts of the State and are presented 
to show that good work is possible. Crews Nos. 1 and 2 were doing practically perfect 
work, but the work of crews Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 was far from perfect. The percent- 
ages of long stems for which these last crews were responsible ranged from 11.4 to 30.6 
per cent. 



20 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGBICULTUEE. 

Table III. — Imperfections in the work of different picking crews paid by the day and by 
the box, showing variation in injury, 1910-11. 



Crew No. 


Paid 
by- 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


Pulled. 


1 


Box . 

Day 

Box 
Day 
Box 

Day 

Box 
Day.. 


Per cent. 
1.0 
1.2 
4.5 
4.2 
.3 
2.6 
11.3 
9.5 


Per cent. 
0.6 
2.3 
12.1 
11.4 
20.2 
30.6 
23.0 
14.6 


Per cent. 
0.2 


2.. 





3... 


2.1 


4 


4.3 


5 


.3 


6. . . 


2.9 


7.. 


1.0 


8 


3.0 







The percentages shown in Table IV and its accompanying diagram (fig. 5), which 
were obtained from two representative crews working in different parts of the State, 
give the average imperfections in the work of different individuals and show how wide 
a variation exists in the character of work performed. 



Cf?£W /V.<V S=>A/D By 77/£" CAy 
ft/flOiW CUTS LOHG STCMS 



c/?sw /vp s mvo ey 7W box 



CUPPCR ct/r& 



LOA/G *S7Z?7S 




Fig. 5. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in the work of two average picking crews, 
one paid by the day and one by the box, showing the variation between pickers, 1910-11. 

Table IV. — Imperfections in the work of two average picking crews, one paid by the day 
and one by the box, showing variation between pickers, 1910-11. 





Crew No. 1- 


-paid by the day. 






Crew No. 2- 


-paid by the box. 




Picker No. 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


Picker No. 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


li 


Per cent. 
1.1 


2.1 
5.7 
6.3 
11.7 


Per cent. 
33.4 
5.3 
20.0 
1.1 
15.6 
18.1 


1 


Per cent. 
0.5 
.6 
2.0 
2.9 
3.8 
4.4 
6.1 
6.2 
6.2 
7.8 
8.8 


Per cent. 
20.1 


2 


2 


23.6 


3 


3 


8.2 


4 


4 

5 


10.2 


5 


2.9 


6 


6 


26.2 








.5 




8 


17.9 




9 


20.1 




10 


14.6 




11.. 


11.2 














4.5 


15.7 


4.5 


14.3 















1 Picker No. 1 was foreman of this crew. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



21 



The figures are interesting and important because of the fact that the pickers in 
one crew were paid by the day while those in the other crew were paid by the box. 
It will be noted that there is practically no difference in the average percentages of 
imperfections in these two crews. In crew No. 1 the foreman was such in name only. 
He made no examination of the work of the men under his charge, and his own work 
his shown by inspection (he was picker No. 1) to be the poorest in the crew. He 
showed 1.1 per cent clipper cuts and 33.4 per cent long stems. 

The pickers in crew No. 2, who were paid by the box, were not working with 
sufficient care to avoid all injury to the skin, yet the average of imperfections in 
the work of this crew was no greater than in the work done by crew No. 1, which 
was paid by the day. The simple change from the box-payment to the day-payment 
plan is insufficient, therefore, to bring about careful work. There must be an efficient 



PAfD 



/V? / DAr o.o'A, 

a box o.o'A 

3 day o.o'A. 

-i" box\os'a 

5 BOX \0 6% 

6 dAyXo.S'A 

7 OAY\0.7'A 



P/CKERS OO/NO BEST WORK. 



CLIPPER 

curs 



o.o % 
O.o'A 
00% 
OO'A 
O.O'A 
O.O'A 

o.o'A 




XIYEf?A6£\0.4 'A 



o.o'A 



\0.?'A 




P/CKERS DO//VG POOREST WORK. 



■Ul'/e 



e BOX WW* 3 'A 

7 DAY O.O. 'A 




45 ■? "A 



795 y„ O.O'A 
W3.2K 

U£ S'A 
Uj.S'A 
\o.f'A 
WWW box 
UU\s.e% 

W3.3'/. 



T'ig. H. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in the work of seven pickers doing the 
best work and seven pickers doing the poorest work, 1910-11. 

field foreman whose duty it is to supervise the different pickers and who must be 
capable of obtaining good work from them. He should watch carefully the output 
of every laborer under his charge, should follow them to see what each is doing, and 
should insist upon careful handling. It is practically impossible for him to carry 
out these arduous duties if, in addition, he must pick fruit. It will be found 
profitable to engage a foreman solely for the purpose of supervising the crew and to 
insist that he give his entire attention to this work; if necessary, he should be pro- 
hibited from picking any fruit. 

The variation in the work done by different individuals is further emphasized by 
the percentages shown in Table V and the accompanying diagram (fig. 6). The 
average of the best seven pickers is practically perfect, while the average of the seven 
pickers doing the most careless work shows a very high percentage of imperfections 
of various kinds. 



22 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Table V. — Imperfections in the work of seven pickers doing the best work and seven 
pickers doing the poorest work, 1910-11. 



Seven pickers doing best work. 


Seven pickers doing poorest work. 


Picker 
No. 


Paid 
by- 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


Pulled. 


Picker 
No. 


Paid 
by- 


Clipper 
cuts. 


L"ong 
stems. 


Pulled. 


1 


Day... 
Box... 
Day... 
Box... 
. do . 


Per cent. 






.5 
.6 
.6 
.7 


Per cent. 









Per cent. 



1.9 






1 


Box... 
...do... 
...do... 


Per cent. 
41.4 
25.4 
24.0 
18.6 
10.8 

4.3 




Per cent. 
79.5 
62.7 
21.5 
30.8 
3S. 5 
56.5 
50.8 


Per cent. 



2 


2 

3 


3.2 


3 


2.5 


4 


4 

5 


...do... 
..do... 


3.5 


5 


.4 


6 


Day... 


6 


...do... 


8.0 


7 


7 


Day... 


6.6 






Average. 






.4 





_ 2 


16.1 


45.4 


3.3 











The importance of thoroughly inspecting the crews and of training the foremen to 
insist upon careful work is further emphasized by the percentages shown in Table VI 
and its accompanying diagram (fig. 7). These figures reveal very little difference in 



Cl/PP£/? cuts 



I.OMG STSS7S 



/3/0-/3// 



/3//-/3/S 



{ &A/D By r//£0AY 

\&a/d By me box 
\f!A/OBy m^Box 




Fig. 7.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in the work of crews paid by the day 
and by the box; average of all inspections, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

the averages of crews paid by the day and those paid by the box, proving that by means 
of careful supervision a conscientious foreman can get as good work from pickers 
under the box-payment plan as a more lax foreman can obtain under the day-payment 
plan. The efficient foreman is therefore the best solution of this problem. 

Table VI. — Imperfections in the work of crews paid hi/ the day and by the box; average 
of all inspections, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 





Class of imperfections. 


1010-1 1 


1911-12 




Crews paid 
by day. 1 


Crews paid 
by box. 2 


Crews paid 
by day.-' 


Crews paid 
by box.< 




Per a m. 
3.7 
9.9 
2.3 


Per cent. 

4.4 
13.8 
3.0 


Per cent. 

2.1 

15.2 

.7 


Per cent. 
3.7 




17.3 


Pulled 


3.3 








1 Average of 18 inspections. 

2 Average of 46 inspections. 


a Ave 

* Ave 


■age of S insp 
•age of 27 ins 


ections. 
sections. 





Table VII and figure 8 show the averages of imperfections in the work of five of 
the best and five of the poorest picking crews inspected during 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



CL/PPef?C<JTS 



LOA/G STEMS 



| s good c&ews I 



'. + B /o 



S POOR CREWS ■■■■■ 3 9 % 
5 GOOD CREWS I 0.3 '/<, 



\02»A 



S POOP CREWS I 



\72 V» 



\3z/°/> «■« 



Fig. 8. — Diagram illustrating the average percentage of imperfections in the work of five picking crews 
doing good work as compared with five picking crews doing poor work, 1910-11 aud 1911-12. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



23 



Table VII. — Imperfections in the work of five picking crews doing good work as compared 
with Jive picking crews doing poor work, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 





Class of imperfections. 


1910-11 


1911-12 




Five pood 
crews. 


Five poor 
crews. 


Five pood 
crews. 


Five poor 
crews 




Per cent, 
1.4 
3.6 

.2 


Per cent. 

8.9 

24.8 

7.9 


Per cent. 
0.8 
6.4 
1.2 


Per cent. 
7.2 




32.1 


Pulled ... 


6.7 







Along with the inspections of the work of the crews and the individual pickers, an 
attempt was made to demonstrate the practicability of training workmen to use more 
care. The workers of the Bureau of Plant Industry kept in close touch with the 
foreman of a representative picking crew, taking pains to indicate to him the scope 
and character of the inspections which it was desirable for him to make. In Table 
VIII and figure 9 are shown the results of work of this character. The first inspection 



CUPP£#C(/rJ LONG STFWS 




2S.<t% 



{JPAP?Ct/7S.L(WG37E*TS 




o.o% 


BKH 


%i./y. \o.s% 


0.0% 


m 


\o.s% \asV. 


i/.0% 


8SSKSS9 ' 


\o.s% ■?.o»S 


E9B''V BH 4.s% 


■■■■''-•' .■£■■-; S 


I/O* 


■M-'-"" "• 


\ae% lo.e'i 


\ae% 


OH ■'. 5 ". 


■ ■■"• ■'"■■"'■ 


\o.e% 


IB ' ■• . 


lo.sf- I asiS 



\3.9% 



§0.9% 



\S./% 



il.o% 



\0.6% 



Fig. 9. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections found during three inspections of one 
picking crew ranging from three to seven persons, showing great improvement. 

was made on January 14, when the crew consisted of four men, the average of imper- 
fections at that time being 5.4 per cent clipper cuts and 9.9 per cent long stems. The 
importance of careful work was urged upon the foreman and crew, and when on Janu- 
ary 20 a second inspection was made, a very material decrease was found in the per- 
centages of imperfections. The crew had been increased to seven by that time, and 
the average of clipper cuts was 0.9 per cent and of long stems 5.1 per cent. After an 
additional demonstration of the effects of rough handling, no examination of the work 
of the crew was made until March 4, when the third and last inspection of the season 
was made. The average percentages of the seven pickers composing the crew on 
that date were 1 per cent clipper cuts and 0.6 per cent long stems. An examination 
of the work of the different individuals shows that one man (picker No. 4) was doing 
practically all of the clipper cutting, his average being 6.4 per cent; it will also be 
noted that his average of long stems (2.8 per cent) was greater than that of any of the 
other pickers. If it was impossible for this workman to improve the character of his 
picking he should have been discharged. Without him the average percentage of 
clipper cuts would have been reduced to 0.7 per cent and of long stems to 0.5 per 
cent. 



24 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table VIII. — Imperfections found during three inspections of one. picking crew, showing 

great improvement. 





Jan. 14, 1911. 


Jan. 20, 1911. 


Mar. 4, 1911. 


Picker No. 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 

stems. 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


Clipper 
cuts. 


Long 
stems. 


1 


Per cent. 
5.2 
1.1 
9.5 
1.1 


Per cent. 

3.6 

6.1 

4.1 

25.1 


Per cent. 



1.0 
4.8 
1.0 
.6 
.6 


Per cent. 
5.4 
3.6 
9.2 
4.8 
4.5 
3.5 
3. 4 


Per cent. 
1. i 
.5 
.5 

6.4 
.6 

1.2 
. 5 


Per cent. 
0.5 


2 .. 


.5 


3 


2.0 


4... 


2.8 


5... 


.6 


6 






1.8 


7 






.5 












5.4 


9.9 


.9 


5.1 


1.0 


.6 







While these figures plainly demonstrate the practicability of training a crew of pickers 
to do careful work, permanent improvement cannot be accomplished without continu- 
ous attention to the details of inspection and constant urging of the workmen to better 
efforts. There are cases where picking operations were improved as long as the men 
thought that inspections would be made; as soon as these were discontinued, however, 
it frequently happened that the character of the work changed, and injuries again 
became common. Continual vigilance is therefore the prime requisite for carrying 
on picking operations in such a way that the number of injuries can be held at a 
minimum. 

PROPER FIELD EQUIPMENT. 

The efficiency of the foreman and of the picking force in general is frequently 
lowered by poor field equipment. In some instances associations of Florida growers 
have spent large sums in building and equipping modern packing houses, while their 
field outfits and methods have been neglected and consequently are so crude that 
the expensive packing-house equipment is of practically no value in so far as careful 
handling of the fruit is concerned. 

A frequent source of injury is the clipper. Unless the shears are systematically 
inspected by the foreman they soon become dull and loose at the joint, and clipper 
cuts and long stems are almost sure to follow. It has not been uncommon to see a 
crew of pickers using clippers so dull and worn that it was impossible to make a close, 
clean cut. Clippers with rounded or blunted points should also be supplied in order 
to run no risk of puncturing the fmit. 

The type of picking receptacle used is fundamentally important. Next to poor 
clippers, probably more injury is caused by poor picking sacks than by any other 
form of equipment. The old type of gunny sack, holding from three-fourths of a box 
to a full box of fruit, is still in use to some extent. Such a sack is so long that it is 
almost impossible to avoid pressing it against the ladder and branches. Moreover, 
it is made of such loosely woven material that the fruit may easily be punctured by 
thorns or twigs, and it is so heavy and unwieldy when filled with fruit that the picker 
can not always prevent injuries of this kind. The most objectionable feature, how- 
ever, is the fact that the fruit must be emptied through the top of the sack into the 
field box, and even with the best of care the oranges must drop a foot or more when 
emptied in this way. 

The best type of sack is one which opens at the bottom, so that it may be placed in 
the field box before being emptied and the fruit allowed to roll out gently without 
any appreciable drop. The mouth should be partly closed, so as to make it impos- 
sible for the picker to toss or drop the fruits into it. The material of which it is made 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 25 

should be heavy enough to protect the fruit from thorns or twigs, and the capacity 
should not be more than half that of a large, standard field box. With a bag of this 
size and texture it is comparatively easy for the picker to protect the fruit from 
bruising against the ladder or branches. The wicker basket in use in some districts 
is supposed to prevent injuries from pressure, but it has several objectionable features. 
It is, first of all, awkward to handle. The wide mouth is an additional disadvantage, 
as it tempts the picker to drop the fruit; moreover, the large open baskets have no 
equals as collectors of dry twigs, leaves, and other trash. Some baskets open at the 
bottom, but from most of them the oranges must be emptied through the top, thus 
entailing a considerable drop. 

The defects of the ordinary field box have already been discussed. Smaller boxes 
made of lighter material than those now used in most groves are to be recommended. 

INFLUENCE OF CLEANING OPERATIONS UPON DECAY. 

NECESSITY FOR WASHING. 

On account of the wide distribution throughout Florida of the white fly and its 
attendant sooty mold, the washing of citrus fruits has become a necessity in most 
sections of the State. In some localities where the fly has not yet become prevalent 
washing is practiced in order to give the fruit a higher polish and to improve its 
appearance. The removal of dust and stains can be equally well accomplished by 
dry brushes, however, and the risk of infection is not so great. During the past few 
years there has been a great increase in the proportion of fruit washed or otherwise 
cleaned until now the practice is very general throughout the State. The investiga- 
tions of the Bureau of Plant Industry included a study of the relationship of washing 
or other cleaning operations to the amount of decay developing after the fruit is 
packed, and the results indicate that the extent of the deterioration from decay varies 
with the character of the work done in the cleaning processes. As a general rule, any 
operation to which the fruit is subjected increases the chance for injury and conse- 
quent decay. Well-grown fruit, comparatively free from stain or rust, is sufficiently 
attractive without being cleaned. Demonstrations with both California and Florida 
citrus fruits have shown that receivers in eastern and northern markets can not dis- 
tinguish between washed and unwashed packs if the fruit is at all clean when it comes 
from the grove. From the viewpoint of the effect of any particular operation upon 
the subsequent behavior of the fruit, the soundest policy is one which will reduce to 
the lowest possible minimum the processes to which the fruit is subjected in the 
course of its preparation for shipment. Washing is perhaps the severest treatment 
that can be given to citrus fruits, and wherever it is not absolutely necessary in order 
to render the fruit marketable it should be omitted. When oranges have been 
exposed to attacks of the white fly, washing or some other cleaning process is 
imperative because of the sooty mold, consequently a large proportion of the fruit 
must always be subjected to this treatment. The importance of having the work 
carried on in such a way that as little damage as possible will result becomes doubly 
urgent when it is considered that the washing processes offer ideal conditions for the 
spread of blue mold. 

Wherever washing and subsequent drying are practiced, the combined operations 
are the most complicated processes through which the fruit is put in the packing house. 
They involve extra handling of the fruit and accordingly furnish additional oppor- 
tunities for mechanical injury. The results of the bureau investigations clearly show 
that decay in the packed fruit is largely due to injuries received or aggravated during 
the operations of washing and drying, although it is difficult, if not impossible, to 
indicate any particular point at which most of the injury takes place. The results 
of the Florida experiments show that where injuries to the fruit were confined almost 
23103°— Bull. 63—14 4 



26 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

wholly to those received in the commercial field-handling operations the decay was 
practically the same as in the case of lots where injuries were confined to those received 
in the washing and drying operations. From this the assumption may be drawn that 
the bad effects following washing are due not so much to actual injuries made in 
passing the fruit through the machine as to the ino?ulation of injured and bruised 
spots through the agency of dirty, infected water. There seems to "be a definite 
relationship between the type of field handling and the occurrence of decay following 
washing. Injuries made in the grove, punctures from long stems, or other damage 
received as the oranges pass through the machinery are aggravated by the addition of 
moisture, especially when the water is not clean. On the other hand, the quality of 
work performed by the machinery is largely dependent upon the manner in which 
the fruit is handled in the grove, and this consideration emphasizes the necessity of 
careful and systematic methods, especially where washing must be employed. Fruit 
which is handled in groves and packinghouses with sufficient care to insure its packing 
without injury usually shows much less decay after washing than the same or similar 
fruit which has been treated less carefully. 

Fruit which is covered with sooty mold must be thoroughly soaked before it is in 
proper condition for washing. This introduces a prolific source of infection — the 
soaking tank. Unless the water in the soaking tank is kept sanitary by being fre- 
quently changed, it soon becomes heavily charged with blue-mold spores, and is 
then one of the most dangerous features of the washing operations. As yet, no disinfect- 
ant has been found which 

CAREFUL COMMEPC/AL 

pick aho pack pick amo pack proves effective against 



fljor ia/asheo H / o v° i^B^B 3. 6 % 



~~* blue mold. Extensive in- 

vestigation of this phase of 
washed ■■■■■<'./•/. HnB^MBHIIMHH io. p °s. the subject has shown the 

spores to be so resistant 
Fig. lO.-Diagram illustrating the percentage , of blue-mold decay ^ Bolution UBed to 

after holding oranges, washed and not washed, for two weeks in * 

a packing house; summary of all experiments, 1910-11. destroy them must be of 

sufficient strength to injure 
the surface of the fruit. The importance of maintaining the soaking tank in a sanitary 
condition is therefore fundamental. It should be emptied frequently, and sprays of 
fresh water should be directed against the fruit as it passes through the washing 
machine. 

RESULTS OF WASHING EXPERIMENTS. 

Tables IX, X, and XI, and figures 10, 11, and 12 show the results obtained during the 
season of 1910-11, when the washing experiments of the bureau were carried on in a 
comprehensive and systematic manner, giving the average percentages of decay found 
in carefully and commercially handled fruit, washed and not washed, respectively. 
The fruit was packed as if for shipment, but instead was held for two weeks in the 
packing houses and the percentages of decay determined by actual count. Table IX 
and its accompanying diagram (fig. 10) present a summary of all the washing experi- 
ments carried on during the season, including the work of 13 different types of ma- 
chines, operated in 32 packing houses. The figures show the relative increase in 
decay due to the washing operations alone in the case of the carefully handled fruit 
and to the combination of causes in the case of the commercially handled fruit. The 
carefully handled oranges, not washed, showed 1 per cent of decay after two weeks; 
the washed, 4.1 per cent. In the commercially handled lots, the fruit not washed 
showed 3.6 per cent of decay and the washed fruit 10.2 per cent. The figures 
include the results of work done in many different ways, and while they summarize 
the general effects of washing, some analysis of the data is necessary in order to bring 
out the points of fundamental importance. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



27 



Table IX. — Blue-mold decay after holding oranges, washed and not washed, two weeks 
in packing house; summary of all shipments, 1910-11 .' 



Treatment. 


Careful 

pick and 

pack. 


. Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 




Per cent. 
1.0 
4.1 


Per cent. 
3.6 




10.2 







1 Results of 37 experiments in 32 packing houses, in which 13 different types of washers were used. 

Table X and its accompanying diagram (fig. 11) show the wide variation in the 
amount of decay found in five houses selected for careful work, as compared with five 
houses chosen for rather careless work. While the average percentages of decay in 
the washed fruit of the five better houses were only slightly higher than the percentages 
of decay in the fruit not washed, it will be noted that the cleaning operations in the 
five careless houses increased the amount of decay to a material extent, even in the 
carefully picked and packed fruit. The significant point to be noted in these results 
is that the washing operations were conducted in the careful houses in such a way 
that little or no harm ensued, while in the more careless houses they were followed 
by serious injury. It is impossible to state definitely whether this result was due 
to the use of different types 
of machines or to the more 
careful operation of the 
machinery in the five best 
packing houses. It is 
probable, however, that 
both factors were in some 
degree responsible. Ob- 
servation has shown that 
careless manipulation of 
the best machinery is fre- 



S HOUSr.5 &HOtVWG LOW 0£OAf 
CAf?£n/£. GO*7rJr/?Ct4£. 



WASHFO%OS% 



MOT WASftCO ■ 



s housed .jvyow/Mg .y/g-.y o£z:Ay 



|.*17?£ 



Fig. 11. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay ap- 
pearing after holding oranges, washed and not washed, for two weeks 
in a packing house, showing high compared with low decay in care- 
fully handled and commercially handled fruit. 



quently followed by as serious deterioration of the fruit as is the careful handling 
of less desirable types of machines. 

Table X. — Blue-mold decay after holding oranges, washed and not leashed, two weeks in 
a packing house, showing high and low decay in fruit carefully handled and commercially 
handled. 1910-11. 



Packing houses and treat- 
ment. 


Careful 

pick and 

pack. 


Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 


Packing houses and treat- 
ment. 


Careful 

pick and 

pack. 


Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 


5 houses showing low decay: 


Per cent. 

0.3 

.6 


Per cent. 
0.9 
1.9 


5 houses showing high decay: 


Per cent. 

1.3 

10.7 


Per cent. 
7.1 






24. 3 









In order to bring out the relationship between field handling and packing-house 
management, Table XI and its accompanying diagram (fig. 12) are presented. These 
give the results of experiments made at the same time in two houses in the same local- 
ity, the character of fruit handled in both houses being practically identical. Obser- 
vation showed that the work of house No. 1 was careless, while in house No. 2 system- 
atic management and careful methods prevailed. That the character of the fruit was 
the same is shown by the fact that the lots carefully picked and not washed showed a 
minimum percentage of decay in both cases. The fruit was held two weeks after 



28 



BULLETIN 63, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



PVGK- *WO ^WCVT 



HOl/Sf *P/< 



lAVT IVASHSO ■ 



packing, and decay was determined by actual count. In house No. 1 the carefully 
handled fruit, not washed, was held for two weeks with only 1.1 per cent of decay, while 
the washed lot of the same fruit developed 14.1 per cent. The carefully handled 
oranges, not washed and washed, showed 0.8 per cent and 1 per cent of decay, respec- 
tively, in house No. 2. The commercially handled fruit, not washed, in house No. 1 
developed 4.7 per cent of decay after two weeks, while in house No. 2 this class of fruit 

showed only 1.2 per cent of 
decay. There was 39.5 per 
cent of decay in the washed 
lots of commercially han- 
dled fruit from house No. 1, 
but in house No. 2 only 1.3 
per cent of the fruit handled 
in the same way showed de- 
cay at the end of two weeks. 
The significance of the ef- 
fects of rough field handling and subsequent poor manipulation of the machinery is 
amply shown, and the practicability of carrying on washing operations with care suffi- 
cient to reduce decay to a minimum is likewise demonstrated. 

Table XI. — Blue-mold decay in oranges, washed and not washed, from two houses in the 
same locality after holding the fruit for two weeks in the packing houses, 1910-11. 



HOISSSMPS 









Fig. 12. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay 
in oranges, washed and not washed, from two houses in the same 
locality, after holding the fruit for two weeks in the packing houses, 
1910-11. 



Packing houses and treat- 
ment. 


Careful 

pick and 

pack. 


Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 


Packing houses and treat- 
ment. 


Careful 

cial pick 

pack. 


Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 


House No. 1: 


Per cent. 
1.1 

14. 1 


Per cent. 

4.7 

39.5 


House No. 2: 


Per cent. 
0.8 
1.0 


Per cent. 
1.2 






1.3 









In the bureau investigations 12 different types of washing machines and one sawdust 
cleaner were used. A few of the machines were of such evident impracticability that 
they were rapidly going out of use, and of those which gave satisfactory results it is 
manifestly impossible to name any one which is best suited for all purposes. The 
quantity of fruit to be handled and the nature of the work to be performed are impor- 
tant factors which must be considered in determining the value of any machine. 
When purchasing this part of the equipment, it is important to choose the type of 
machine which will do the best work from the standpoint of careful handling and 
will eliminate, as far as is possible, the detrimental results of washing. 

Some of the features which should be avoided in washing machines are as follows: 

(1) Completely inclosed brushes. The fruit should be in plain sight at all times. 

(2) Pressure on the fruit other than that afforded by the weight of the fruit itself. 

(3) Opportunity for the fruits to tumble over or rub against one another to any great 
extent. 

(4) Any arrangement of brushes, mats, etc., which allows twigs, thorns, nails, etc., 
to become lodged in the runway through which the fruit must pass. 

Any one of these features may be the means of much injury, especially in houses 
where careful attention to the operation of the machinery is not given at all times, or 
where the field-handling operations have been more or less careless. 

IMPORTANCE OF DRYING. 

Fruit should never be packed while moist or wet. Moisture is one of the prime 
requisites for the development of decay, and, as the temperature of the fruit during 
the Florida packing season is usually high enough to facilitate the germination of the 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 29 

mold spores, the importance of having the fruit perfectly dry can not be too strongly 
emphasized. Weather conditions in Florida are practically never such that fruit 
may be allowed to stand wet in the boxes for several days, although this practice 
prevails to some extent in California. The wet conditions within the mass of fruit 
renders ideal the conditions for the development of any mold, especially where the 
packing-house premises are not strictly sanitary. Injured fruits handled in this 
way frequently develop decay which has not advanced far enough to be detected 
when the fruit passes over the grading belts and which might have been prevented 
by prompt drying. Later drying or even icing in transit can not entirely arrest the 
growth of the mold. 

In some districts the sun rack (PI. VII, fig. 2) is depended upon for drying the fruit, 
and with favorable weather conditions this method is as effective as the use of many 
of the so-called artificial-drying machines. The chief objection to this rack is that 
frequently sufficient space for its proper construction is not available, and it is there- 
fore not made large enough to accommodate all of the fruit or to insure perfect drying. 
Moreover, the handling of the fruit on this rack is often very rough and conducive to 
severe injury, unprotected brooms or wooden implements being generally used to 
dislodge the fruit or to spread it over the rack as it comes from the washing machine. 
Another point of injury is where the fruit is allowed to run off the bottom of the rack 
into the field boxes, from which it is again emptied into a hopper leading to the grading 
machine. These various operations and the more or less rough type of handling greatly 
multiply the chances for injury and increase the liability of blue-mold infection. 

The drying of fruit in Florida is difficult at best, and the artificial drier seems to be 
an ultimate necessity, at least from the standpoint of thorough work and careful 
handling. Frequently weather conditions are such that complete drying is practically 
impossible unless some artificial method is devised to evaporate the water from the 
surface of the fruit. A properly constructed drying machine can be adjusted so as to 
carry the fruit continuously from the washing machine to the grading belts, without 
drops, gravity runs, elevators, or even the use of the human hand. A machine which 
can thus be adjusted to carry on the work with proper care is more reliable than are 
workmen of the type usually employed in a packing house. 

The artificial drying of fruits is still in the experimental stage in Florida, and a machine 
which will prove wholly satisfactory under all conditions has not yet been devised. 
All the types of mechanical driers have yielded good results under favorable weather 
conditions, and all have given more or less trouble on cloudy days or at any time 
when the humidity was very high. 

In the most effective driers now in use, an air blast is circulated around the fruit 
in such a way that the moisture is more or less completely removed. The intro- 
duction of artificial heat or some other means of drying the circulating air will greatly 
improve the character of the work and will materially lessen the distance over which 
the fruit must travel. Other things being equal, the more promptly the drying can 
be accomplished the less chance there will be for the development of blue mold. 

PACKING AND SHIPPING EXPERIMENTS. 

EXPERIMENTAL CONSIGNMENTS DURING TWO SEASONS. 

During the seasons of 1910-11 and 1911-12 comprehensive series of shipping experi- 
ments were made in order to demonstrate the application of the results of the packing- 
house tests made during previous years. More than 90 experimental shipments 
of oranges were made from Florida in 1910-11, and 65 shipments were sent out in the 
course of the work during 1911-12. These consignments were composed of fruit 
from practically every orange-growing district in the State, including the Manatee 
River district, the Pinellas Peninsula, and the Hillsboro County sections on the 
west coast; the groves extending from Fort Myers to De Land in the interior; and 



80 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



the section- along the east coast from Daytona and New Smyrna to Miami. They 
represented a great variety of conditions and formed a fair average of the character 
of the fruit in the State, as well as of the manner in which it was prepared for market 
under commercial conditions. Some of the best as well as some of the poorest houses 
were represented in these tests, and a number of houses which may be classed as 
average were also included. 

Each shipping series consisted of six boxes of oranges; two of these were carefully 
picked, graded, and packed by the bureau workers; two were picked by regular pickers 
but. were carefully graded and packed ; and the last two were taken from the ordinary 
commercial run of the houses from which the experimental shipments were made. 
The shipments were divided into two parts. In one the grading, packing, and ship- 
ping were made on the same day on which the fruit was picked, or as soon after- 
wards as possible, and in the other the same fruit was held for three or four days in 
the packing house before packing and shipping. The former were designated as 
''immediate" and the latter as "delayed" shipments. All lots were sent out with 
the regular carloads of fruit from the various packing houses, and the experimental 
boxes were expressed to Washington from the northern markets to which the cars 
were consigned. Each box was inspected on the day of arrival in Washington and the 
percentage of decay accurately determined. The fruit was held for three weeks 
under ordinary open-market conditions, and inspections were made at the end of 
the first, second, and third weeks. The results obtained give a fair representation 
of the average decay occurring in a commercial pack and show the percentage of 
loss which can be avoided by more careful handling. 

Plate XV illustrates the condition in which the three lots shipped from one packing 
house using very little care arrived on the Washington market. The carefully picked, 
graded, and packed fruit (on the left in the illustration) showed 4 per cent of decay on 
arrival; the commercially picked but carefully graded and packed fruit (in the cen- 
ter) Bhowed 35.6 per cent of decay, and the commercially handled fruit (on the right) 
had 65.9 per cent of decay. After intervals of one, two, and three weeks the three lots, 
respectively, showed decay as follows: After one week, 4 per cent, 46 per cent, and 
71.6 per cent; after two weeks, 11.5 per cent, 54 per cent, and 72.2 per cent; after three 
weeks, 11.5 per cent, 57.1 per cent, and 72.2 per cent. 

Table XII and figure 13 show the average percentages of decay found in the ship- 
ments during 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

Table XII. — Blue-mold decay in oranges carefully handled and commercially handled, 
on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks; average of all inspections, 
1910-11 and 1911-12. l 



Time of examination. 


Careful pick and 
pack. 


Commercial pick 
and careful pack. 


Commercial pick 
and pack. 




1910-11 


1911-12 


1910-11 


1911-12 


1910-11 


1911-12 




Per cent. 
0.6 
1.1 
1.6 
1.9 


Per cent. 

0.6 

.9 

1.4 

2.2 


Per cent. 
2.5 
4.3 
5.5 
6.1 


Per cent. 
1.4 
2.2 
3.5 
5.5 


Per cent. 
7.0 
10.8 
13.1 

14.2 


Per cent. 
4.0 




6.8 




10.4 




14.2 







1 From 79 comparable shipments made in 1910-11 and 65 comparable shipments made in 1911-12. 

Table XIII and its accompanying diagram (fig. 14) summarize the results of the two 
seasons' work and show the average of all experiments carried on during the two years. 
In the illustration the results are marked as curves, using the percentages of decay 
for the vertical lines and the times of arrival and of holding for the horizontal lines. 
In this way the progress of the deterioration can readily be traced, and the influence 
of the different systems of handling upon the occurrence of decay is strikingly 
shown. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



31 



The carefully handled fruit arrived in Washington during both seasons with less 
than 1 per cent of decay, or an average for the two years of O.G per cent. The commer- 
cially picked but carefully packed fruit showed much more decay on arrival, while 
a still higher percentage of decay had developed in the fruit picked and packed under 
ordinary commercial conditions. The average percentage of decay which was de- 
veloped in the carefully picked and packed fruit during a holding period of three 
weeks was about the same as that shown on arrival by the commercially picked but 
carefully packed lots. The fruit handled under commercial conditions throughout 




Fig. 13.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay in carefully handled and com- 
mercially handled oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks; average of 
all inspections, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

had developed more than twice as much decay by the first inspection as occurred 
in the carefully picked and packed fruit at the end of three weeks. The latter boxes, 
with 2.1 per cent of decay, were still in good marketable condition after holding for 
three weeks under ordinary market conditions, but the commercially handled fruit 
had developed 5.5 per cent of decay on arrival, which was increased to 14.2 per cent at 
the end of three weeks. 

Table XIII. — Blue-mold decay in oranges carefully handled and commercially handled, on 
arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks; summary of the results of the 
two seasons' work, 1910-11 and 1911-1-} 



Time of examination. 


Careful 

pick and 

pack. 


Commercial 

pick and 

careful 

pack. 


Commercial 

pick and 

pack. 




Per cent. 
0.6 
1.0 
1.5 
2.1 


Per cent. 
2.0 
3.3 
4.5 
5.8 


Per cent. 

5.: 




8.8 




11.8 




14.2 







> From 79 comparable shipments made in 1910-11 and 65 comparable shipments made in 191 1-12. 



32 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTUBE. 



These results strongly emphasize the very definite relationship which exists between 
the type of handling given the fruit in preparing it for shipment and its behavior dur- 
ing transit, and they show that the condition of the fruit after arrival in market de- 
pends largely upon the character of the work done in the grove and the packing house. 
They also show that the Florida orange, when properly handled, has excellent shipping 
qualities and that practically all loss from blue-mold decay, such as has occurred in 
the past, can be eliminated. This is the fundamental factor upon which will even- 
tually depend the successful marketing of the crop as well as the extension of the 
territory over which sound fruit can be distributed. The importance of having the 
fruit remain in good condition after arrival in market is most urgent. Carefully han- 
dled fruit which has good keeping quality will always command a premium over fruit 
which has a bad reputation. The former will enable buyers to break up carloads and 
to ship sound fruit to smaller markets over an area two or three times as large, while 



8 

J 






*& 



w&* 



A 



•c£- 



J& 



<fi>fi 



. cAxgyj^ 



P&—-' 




Fig. 14.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay in carefully handled and commercially 
handled oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks; summary of the 
results of the two seasons' work, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

fruit of a less desirable quality must be consumed quickly in order to avoid further 
serious loss. Moreover, aside from the actual saving of fruit, the reputation of a brand 
which holds well on the market can not be adequately estimated in dollars and cents. 

EFFECT OF DELAYED SHD7MENT. 

Experiments with delayed shipments were made in order to determine the effect 
of "curing" fruit before packing. One of the strongest traditions which existed 
among packing-house men in the past was that curing was necessary in order that 
the fruit might be in proper condition for packing. The slight wilting and consequent 
softening of the oranges was supposed to enable the packer to place them more firmly 
in the box. The results of the shipping experiments earned on during the two sea- 
sons did not show that there was any advantage to be gained from curing. Contrary 
to the general belief that cured fruit is less easily injured in packing, the average 
decay in the delayed lots was considerably higher than in the immediate shipments. 
Table XIV and figures 15, 16, and 17 give the average percentage of decay found in the 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



33 



immediate and delayed shipments during the seasons of 1910-11 and 1911-12. Suffi- 
cient data have been accumulated to indicate that carefully handled fruit may be 
cured without serious loss, but that wherever the fruit has been appreciably damaged 
in the course of its preparation for shipment, decay is materially greater in the delayed 
lots. The carefully handled immediate and delayed shipments during 1910-11 and 
1911-12 arrived with 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent of decay, respectively, the differ- 
ence being so slight that it may be neglected entirely. The commercially handled 
immediate shipments showed 4.6 per cent of decay and the delayed ones 6.6 per 




Fig. 15. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled lots and in im- 
mediate and delayed shipments, 1910-11 , 

cent on arrival. After holding these lots of fruit for three weeks the decay in the 
carefully handled fruit had increased to 2 per cent, while the commercially handled 
shipments showed 13. S per cent of decay for the immediate and 14.8 per cent for the 
delayed ones. Once again the effect of careful handling upon the behavior of the 
fruit after arrival in market is strikingly shown. 

Table XIV. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for 
three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled and in immediate and 
delayed shipments, 1910-11 and 191 1-12. ' 



Time of examination. 



Careful pick and pack. 



1910-11 



1911-12 A ™rage 
ml " 2seasons. 



Commercial pick and pack. 



1910-11 1911-12 &££_ 



On arrival: 

Immediate. 

Delayed 

After 1 week: 

Immediate. 

Delayed 

After 2 weeks: 

Immediate. 

Delayed 

After 3 weeks: 

Immediate. 

Delayed 



Per cent. 

0.5 

.7 

1.1 
1.2 

1.4 
1.8 

1.7 

2.1 



Per cent. 
0.5 



.9 
1.0 



1.4 
1.5 



2.3 

2.0 



Per cent. 
0.5 

.7 

1.0 
1.1 

1.4 
1.7 

2.0 
2.1 



Per cent. 
6.4 
7.3 

10.4 
11.2 

12.9 

13.4 

14. 1 
14. 1 



Per cent. 
2.9 

5.8 

5.7 



9.7 
11.7 



13.5 
15.1 



Per cent. 
4.6 
6.6 

8.1 
9.9 

11.3 
12.5 

13.8 
14.8 



1 From 39 comparable shipments made in 1910-11 and 28 comparable shipments made in 1911-12. 



34 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The prevailing opinion that fruit packed soon after picking or before it has had 
time to cure will arrive in slack condition has not been borne out by the bureau inves- 
tigations. When the fresh fruit is firmly and properly placed in the box, it is no more 
liable to make a slack pack than is the cured fruit. It is? probably true that the latter 
can be more easily packed, for less effort is required to press it into the box. The 
work of many rapid packers who make no effort to place the oranges firmly and who 
rely upon the press to squeeze the fruit into place, is conducive to poor carrying 
quality as well as to slackness. Eachlayermustbeproperlyplaced. Where the press 
is depended upon to shove the fruit down into the box the force exerted reaches through 
only two or three layers and often squeezes the oranges in these to the extent of break- 
ing the ekin or inflicting serious bruises. After the boxes are loaded on the cars, 
jolting during transit loosens the improperly packed layers, and the fruit arrives on 
the market in a slack condition. When every orange is firmly placed, however, there 
is little chance that such slackening will result. 

Moreover, fruit held loose in the packing house during warm, humid weather is 
afforded an additional opportunity for blue-mold infection. Although some packers 




Fiu. 16.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled lots and in 
immediate and delayed shipments, 1911-12. 

consider this delay necessary in order to eliminate the injured oranges which have 
begun to decay, experience and observation show that while graders are occasionally 
able to discern and throw out such fruits, it is practically impossible to discover all 
infected specimens. The development of blue mold during the curing period accounts 
for the advanced stages of the decay usually found in delayed shipments on arrival 
in market. 

The average length of time during which the experimental shipments were in tran- 
sit from Florida to Washington was 10 days; as a rule, from S to 10 days are required 
for Florida oranges to arrive at their destination. Several days may then elapse before 
the fruit is sold, and a still longer period usually intervenes before it is placed in the 
hands of the consumer. The 3-weeks' period used in the Washington market-holding 
tests represents approximately the length of time required to finally dispose of the 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



35 



fruit. When the fruit is held for 3 or 4 days in the packing house the period elapsing 
between picking and final consumption is unnecessarily and even dangerously length- 
ened. From this standpoint alone curing is unwise, as the delay"increases the chance 
for the infection of bruises or injured spots and facilitates the development of decay 
before shipment and in transit. 




Fig. 17. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges, on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled lots and in 
immediate and delayed shipments; average of the two seasons, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

A comparison of commercially handled immediate and delayed shipments from 
two packing houses, in one of which the work was being done very carefully, while 
in the other the handling was of a rather rough character, emphasizes the relationship 
which exists between delay and the occurrence of decay while in transit. Table XV 
and its accompanying diagram (fig. IS) give the results of commercial shipments from 
these two packing houses during the season of 1910-11. The houses were located in 
the same district and the fruit was similar in character. 

Table XV. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for 
three weeks, the immediate and delayed shipments from two houses, 1910-11. 





House No. 1. 


House No. 2. 


Time of examination. 


Immedi- 
ate. 


Delayed. 


Immedi- 
ate. 


Delayed. 




Percent. 



1.2 
3.1 
4.0 


Per cent. 



.6 

1.4 

1.4 


Per cent. 
26.1 
40.4 
42.6 
42.8 


Per cent. 
67 3 




71.3 




71.9 











The fruit from house No. 1, which was carrying on the work in a careful manner, 
arrived in Washington with no decay in either immediate or delayed lots, and after 
holding for three weeks the immediate shipments developed 4 per cent of decay, 
while the delayed ones had less than 2 per cent. In house No. 2, where the work 
was being carelessly done, the difference between the percentages of decay was very 



36 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



great. It will be noticed that even in the immediate shipments the proportion of 
decayed oranges amounted to 26.1 per cent on arrival and at the end of three weeks 
constituted 42.8 per cent of the total. In the delayed shipments, 67.3 percent of de- 
cay had developed on arrival, and this was increased to 71.9 percent after three weeks. 
This is an extreme case, of course, and it is only fair to state that few housesin Flor- 
ida were doing as poor work as this during 1910-11. The figures are presented to em- 
phasize the contrast between commercial work performed under different conditions. 

Table XVI and its ac- 
companying diagram (fig. 
19) give the results of im- 
mediate and delayed ship- 
ments of fruit from a single 
packing house during the 
period when high decay is 
usually most prevalent in 
Florida. The work done 
in this house could not be 
considered as first class. 
For the sake of contrast, 
immediate and delayed lots 
carefully handled by the 
bureau workers were sent 
out at the same time as 
the commercially handled 
shipments. The carefully 
handled fruit, shipped im- 
mediately, arrived in Wash- 
ington with 1 per cent of 
decay, while the commer- 
cially handled oranges 
showed 5.1 per cent. The 
carefully handled delayed 

Fig. 18.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of t a • i 

oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for three cent of decay on arrival, 
weeks, in immediate and delayed shipments from two houses, while the commercially 
1910-n. handled delayed shipment 

showed 36.9 per cent at the same time. After holding the carefully handled fruit in 
Washington for three weeks, the immediate shipment was still in very good market- 
able condition with only 2 per cent of decay, whereas the percentage in the delayed 
lot had increased to 6.3. The latter fruit was still marketable, although subject 
to discount. Both lots of commercially handled fruit, however, developed decay 
far in excess of any market allowance, the immediate lot showing 25.6 per cent and the 
delayed 44 per cent. 

Table XVI. — Blue-mold decay of oranges in immediate and delayed shipments from one 
house, on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks during a period of high 
blue-mold decay , December, 1911. 



72 

68 
64 
60 
S6 

se 

46 

V 




ArtD &Hff»*£NTa. 








713 


7,9 




673 






























































k 

$ » 
G 

ft & 
t 

23 
24 


^ 


fa* 














4/ 








5*./ 




































e 
4 


















40 

/4 


us>t/.%£l A/0- f \- 


T~, — — — — — """ ~ iTxhtt.* WO ^(/wc/vr^ 



Time of examination. 


Carefully handled 
fruit. 


Commercially han- 
dled fruit. 


Immedi- 
ate. 


t >rl;i\ r<] 


Immedi- 
ate. 


Delayed. 




Per cent. 
1.0 
1.0 
1.2 
2.0 


Per cent. 
3.6 
4.6 
5.3 
6.3 


Per cent. 
5.1 
16.5 
23.3 
25.6 


Per cent. 
36.9 




38.0 




39.4 




44.0 




. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



37 



Unless unfavorable weather conditions prevail, a delay of several days is not serious 
under a system of careful handling which insures the packing of the fruit in sound 
condition, but it is far better to avoid delay as much as possible, even if the attendant 
conditions are most favorable. 

COMPARISON OF THE WORK OF DIFFERENT PACKING HOUSES. 

Typical rough and careful handling. — The figures presented in Tables XVII to XX 
and the accompanying diagrams include the averages of both commercial and experi- 
mental shipments from a number of houses representing all classes of work. Extremes 
of rough handling and con- 
sequent very high decay 
during transit, as well as 
extremes of careful han- 
dling accompanied by ex- 
cellent shipping quality, 
were found in different 
parts of the State. 

Table XVII and ita ac- 
companying diagram (fig. 
20) give the average per- 
centages of decay occur- 
ring during 1910-11 and 
1911-12 in the commercial 
shipments from 12 houses 
using care and from a like 
number of houses in which 
the work was roughly done. 
During both seasons the 
percentage of decay in the 
commercial fruit shipped 
by the houses using care 
was almost as low as the 
average for any of the care- 
fully handled lots, picked, 
graded, and packed by bu- 
reau workers. The prac- 
ticability of conducting 




_ .-** 3 



Fig. 19.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of 
oranges in immediate and delayed shipments from one house, on 
arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks during a 
period of high decay, December, 1911. 



commercial operations with sufficient care to eliminate decay is thus plainly demon- 
strated. Theresults of the two series of shipments present a striking and consistent 
contrast throughout both seasons. The averages of the carelessly handled commercial 
lots were somewhat lower during 1911-12 than they were in 1910-11, but the proportion 
of decayed fruit on arrival (10.9 per cent) is still too high for good commercial results. 

Table XVII. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding 
for three weeks, in shipments showing high and low blue-mold decay in careful and in 
commercial pack, 1910-11 and 1911-ii. 



Year. 


Inspection. 


12 shipments show- 
ing low decay. 


12 shipments show- 
ing high decay. 


Careful. 


Commer- 
cial. 


Careful. 


Commer- 
cial. 


1910-11... 




Per cent. 
0.1 
.2 
.2 
.3 
.1 
.3 
.6 
1.2 


l\ r c> in 
0.4 

.8 
1.3 
1.6 

.6 
1.7 
3.0 
4.4 


Per cent. 
0.4 
.8 
1.5 
2.1 
1.1 
1.3 
1.7 
2.7 


Per cent. 
14.6 






22.2 






27.8 






30.8 


1911-12... 




10.9 
16.1 






20.5 






25.9 









38 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table XVIII and figure 21 give the average percentages of decay of oranges from 
two packing houses in the same locality working on practically the same kind of fruit. 
The type of work in house No. 1 was good, but that in house No. 2 was rather poor. 
These shipments were made at the same time, and the results of carefully handled 
lots prepared by the bureau workers from the same houses are given for comparison. 

32 

ao 
zs 

26 
21 
22 

\20 

%* 

X 

\ '2 




'SHIPMENTS SHOWMG. tOVVD£^^. 

— — — — *~ ~~~ - 



■- . — '" T^L c ,j„ lt j,Aif7 /aw DECAY 



&=■ 






OA/AR&/WV. 



2 WSFX& 
i.AT^ff 






Fig. 20. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in shipments showing high compared with low decay in commercial 
pack, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 

Table XVIII. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after hold- 
ing/or three weeks, in carefully handleO. and commercially handled lots shipped from 
two houses in the same locality, 1910-11. 





House No. 1, 


House No. 2. 


Time of examination. 


Careful. 


Com- 
mercial. 


Careful. 


Com- 
mercial. 




Per cent. 
0.4 
1.5 
1.8 
2.5 


Per cent. 
2.4 
4.5 
5.7 
5.7 


Per cent. 

0.3 

.3 

.3 

.7 


Per cent. 
21.3 




28.9 




48.2 




59.5 







It will be noticed that the commercial shipment from house No. 1 gave practically 
as favorable returns as the specially prepared shipments of the bureau workers, the 
difference being only 2 per cent, both series from this house having less than the 
commercial allowance of 3 per cent decay on arrival. The commercial shipments 
from house No. 2, where observation showed the handling to be rather careless, had 
developed 21.3 per cent of decay on arrival at Washington, while the fruit handled 
by the bureau workers at the same time and shipped under identical conditions 
showed 0.3 per cent of decay. After three weeks the commercial shipments from 
house No. 1 averaged 5.7 per cent of decay, and those from house No. 2 showed 59.5 
per cent, as against 2.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, for the carefully 
handled fruit. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



39 



Relation of character of picking to decay. — A study of field handling in connection 
with the occurrence of decay in commercial shipments was made in two packing 
houses in Florida during 1911-12. It would be hard to find a more striking illustra- 
tion of the effects of careless handling than that presented in Table XIX and in the 
diagram (fig. 22). It should be borne in mind that all of these results were obtained 
from lots of commercially handled fruit, no attempt being made by the bureau work- 
ers to influence the type of handling. They merely inspected the field work and made 
sure that the boxes selected for experimental shipment were representative. 

60, 



S2 



q 

K 3Z 

a 

kj SB 

ft a 



: »*^ 



-l*&r. 



&> 



d 



^ 



^- 



J??.-! 



-4* 



W 



&& — 



IS COMMERCIAL MAMDLWG 



QAff^j ''< HANOI V6 

.^g^F^ l A^g^ — 10 3 CAREFUL H£.NOLWG_ 



*? WEEKS 
" — - lhick LATEf? LA7Ef? 

Fig. 21.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington 
and after holding for three weeks, in carefully handled and commercially handled lots shipped from 
two houses in the same locality, 1910-11. 

In house No. 1, where the type of handling was fairly good, the proportion of clipper 
cuts was 0.2 percent; of pulled fruit, 1.6 per cent; and of long stems, 4 per cent. 
The immediate shipments of this fruit showed no decay on arrival, while the delayed 
lots had 3.7 per cent. After holding three weeks in market, 6 per cent and 8.2 per 
cent of decay developed in the immediate and delayed shipments, respectively. 

Table XIX. — Imperfections in picking and the percentage of blue-mold decay of commer- 
cially handled oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks, from 
two nouses in the same locality, 1911-12, showing the effect of careful handling on the 
carrying quality of fruit. 





Class of imperfections. 


Picking inspections. 




House 
No. 1. 


House 
No. 2. 




Percent. 
0.2 
4.0 
1.6 


Per cent. 
7.4 




56.8 


Pulled 


.1 







40 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table XIX. — Imperfections in picking and the percentage of blue-mold decay of commer- 
cially handled oranges on arrival in Washington, etc. — Continued. 





Experimental shipments. 


Time of examination. 


House No. 1. 


House No. 2. 




Imme- 
diate. 


Delayed. 


Imme- 
diate. 


Delayed. 




Per cent. 


1.5 
2.7 
6.0 


Per cent. 
3.7 
5.2 
6.7 
8.2 


Per cent. 
8.0 
12.0 
15.6 
22.4 


Per cent. 
19.4 




23.0 




27.4 




34.5 







In house No. 2, -which was selected for rough handling, the percentage of clipper 
cuts was 7.4 per cent; of pulled fruit, 0.1 per cent; and of long stems, 56.8 per cent. 
The immediate shipments from this house showed an average of 8 per cent decay on 
arrival and the delayed shipments 19.4 per cent, these percentages being increased 
to 22.4 and 34.5, respectively, after three weeks in Washington. 

The relationship between the type of field handling and the behavior of the fruit 
while in transit has been definitely established by numerous experiments during 
several seasons. The experiment cited above fairly represents the general character 
and results. 



a./pp£f< cors 
HOUSE *e#cewr 

NO. 1 az\ *°% 

NO.Z 7.4 ■■■n f 63% 



t.CWGJTE»S 




irx/°£"/?/A/£W7>iz. st//P>w£-/vrs 



2B 

r 

k 

i- 

r 



^sjese&v^T 



JjpMS&S—^ 



^gigggpgg 



.__ — ft 




Fig. 22.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in picking and the percentage ol blue- 
mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks, in commercially 
handled lots from two houses in the same locality, 1911-12, showing the effect of careful handling on 
the carrying quality of the fruit. 

The figures presented in Table XX and the accompanying diagrams (figs. 23 and 24) 
are shown to indicate the practicability of improving the handling and shipping 
conditions by giving special attention to the organization of the labor forces. The 
packing house from which the data were obtained was reorganized at the end of the 
1910-11 season; the machinery was simplified and every effort was directed toward 
the introduction of better handling methods. Two experimental shipments were 
made — one during 1910-11 and one during 1911-12, two lots being sent out each season. 
The results of the inspections of the field work are given to show the great improve- 
ment in the second season, the results of careful handling by the bureau workers 
being also included for comparison with the commercial work done during the two 
seasons. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



41 



Table XX. — Imperfections in picking and the percentage of blue-mold decay of fruit on 
arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks, shipped from one packing house 
during 1910-11 and 1911-12, showing decrease in blue-mold decay due to greater care in 
handling. 





Picking inspections. 


Time of exam- 
ination. 


Experimental shipments. 


Class of imper- 
fections. 


1910-11 


1911-12 


1910-11 t 


1911-12 = 




Jan. 17. 


Mar. 3. 


Dec. 13. 


Careful. 


Commer- 
cial. 


Careful. 


Commer- 
cial. 


Clipper cuts 

Long sterns 

Pulled 


l'i i cent. 
11.3 

23.0 
1.0 


Per cent. 
. r t. 7 
11.9 
5.1 


Pet cent. 

1.8 

10.4 

1.4 


On arrival 

After 1 week.. 
After 2 weeks. 
After 3 weeks. 


Per cent. 

0.2 

.6 

.8 

1.3 


Per cent. 

s. II 
12.6 
15.3 

15. S 


Per cent. 

0.3 

.9 

1.2 
1.5 


Per cent. 
1.1 
2.4 




4.1 



> Fruit picked Feb. 1, 1911. 



> Fruit picked Dec. 13, 1911. 



CLIPPER CUTS I 
LO/VG ST£MS% 



t//.3 °/i 



pulledW° % 




\s.i% 



EXPEf?/ME/VrAL SH/PMLzA/rS. 



i 



I2.$ 



**£ 



a£ 



tf" 



W 






It will be noticed that in 1910-11 (fig. 23) the total imperfections in the field 
handling amounted to 35.3 per cent at the first inspection and 22.7 per cent at the 
second . The average percentage of decay in the commercial shipments was 8 per cent 
on arrival at Washington, the carefully handled lots developing 0.2 per cent. In 
1911-12 (fig. 24) the field 
work, while far from perfect, 
was considerably improved, 
the inspections showing 13.0 
per cent of imperfections. 
The commercially handled 
fruit showed 1.1 per cent of 
decay on arrival, and the lots 
prepared by the bureau 
workers had 0.3 per cent. 
After holding the fruit in 
Washington for three weeks 
the commercially handled 
oranges developed 15.8 per 
cent of decay during 1910-11 
and 4.1 per cent during 
1911-12. When it is con- 
sidered that the variation in 
the percentage of decay for 
these two seasons may easily 
mean a difference between 
profit and loss in the sale of 
the fruit from this house, the 
data presented become par- 
ticularly impressive. It 
would be difficult to assem- 
ble a stronger array of facts 
than those brought together in this figure to illustrate the fundamental importance of 
preserving the sound carrying quality of oranges. The significance of the connection 
between field handling and the occurrence of decay during transit is definitely shown, 
as well as the practicability of improving conditions by means of more systematic man- 
agement. This presentation should be sufficient to convince even the most skep- 
tical that loss from decay in the shipment of Florida oranges is dependent upon the 
character of handling given the fruit in field and packing house. 



S 

I 



CAREFUL HAA/DL/MG 



A/?/?/K4L 



/ weest 

LATER 



2 WEEKS 
LATER 



3 WEEKS 
LATER 



Fig. 23. — Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in 
picking and the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on 
arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks, in fruit 
shipped from one packing house, showing decrease in blue-mold 
decay due to greater care in handling, 1910-11. 



42 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



RESULTS FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT. 

In order to emphasize the importance of careful work, the data nray be analyzed 
from a financial standpoint. The results are perhaps more impressive when expressed 
in dollars and cents than when a statement is made regarding the percentages of 
decay in various lots of fruit. 

The difference between the average percentages developed in the carefully picked 
and packed and the commercially picked and packed fruit during the season of 1910-11 
was 6.4 per cent. This means that 1 out of approximately every 15J boxes shipped 
during the season was unnecessarily destroyed by blue-mold decay, and that this 
loss might have been avoided if the fruit had been handled with care approximating 
that given by the bureau workers. It is only necessary to extend this line of reason- 
ing. Out of every 100 boxes of fruit shipped, the avoidable loss was Gh boxes; there- 
fore, on a basis of 3,500,000 boxes of oranges shipped from Florida during the season 
of 1910-11 this loss aggregated 224,000 boxes, which at a fair f. o. b. price of $1.50 
per box gives a direct money loss of $336,000. 

In 1911-12 the difference in decay between the carefully handled and commercially 
handled fruit was 3.5 per cent, or a loss of 1 box for every 28J boxes shipped. A fair 

estimate of the total ship- 



P/CK/MG /A/SPECT/OA/. 



DECEMBER /3. 
CLIPPER CUTS ■ /. 8 % 

LONG STEMS ^BSBRB /<?. "T 2 
PULLED ■ /. 4- °/o 



% 



\ 

s 



EXPEP/MENTAL SP/PMEiVTS. 







Fie. 24.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of imperfections in 
picking and the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on 
arrival in Washington and after holding for three weeks, in fruit 
shipped from one packing house, showing decrease in blue-mold 
decay due to greater care in handling, 1911-12. 



ment of oranges during that 
season is 3,750,000 boxes. 
The loss on this fruit, at the 
rate indicated, aggregates 
131,250 boxes, which, 
figured at prevailing prices, 
may be valued at approxi- 
mately $200,000. Perhaps 
this is an exaggerated 
method of analyzing the 
true condition of affairs, 
yet when one takes into 
consideration the immense 
financial outlay necessary 
to pick, haul, grade, and 
pack these oranges, the 
actual money loss is not far 
from the amounts stated. 
The figures stated above 
In addition, there is a large loss 



approximate the net loss to the growers due to decay 
due to the cost of transporting and selling. According to statistics recently compiled, 
it costs from $1.75 to $1.93 to produce, prepare for shipment, and deliver in market 
one packed box of oranges. 1 With this cost as a basis, the losses reached the stupen- 
dous totals of $432,320 during 1910-11 and approximately $250,000 during 1911-12. 

From the standpoint of the effect upon the reputation of the Florida product the 
financial loss is even greater. It is impossible to give such a loss in actual figures, 
for the value of a reputation for high shipping and holding quality can not be estimated 
in dollars and cents. It is safe to say that the introduction of more careful methods 
would not increase the cost of handling to any material extent. No figures are avail- 
able for such an increase, but the extra expense would certainly be only a small frac- 
tion of the actual money loss enumerated above. Leaving out of consideration the 
desirability of a good reputation, these figures should serve to convince those people 
who can appreciate values only from a financial standpoint that careful handling is 
necessary for the success of the industry. 

' Statements of J. C. Chase and W. C. Temple before the Committee on Ways and Means, TJ. S. House 
of Representatives, 1913. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 



43 



SEASONAL INFLUENCES ON THE OCCURRENCE OF DECAY. 

It has been the general experience that blue-mold decay is more prevalent in Florida 
during the early months of the shipping season than it is later. Losses are most severe 
in December and January, the former month as a rule having the highest percentage 
of decay. So characteristic has this early deterioration been in the past that growers 
have become convinced that the underlying causes are not confined to improper 
methods of handling, and that the loss is due to some disease other than blue mold. 
Careful observation on the part of the bureau workers has shown this impression to 
be incorrect. An analysis of the circumstances under which fruit is handled during 
December shows that at that time of the year the conditions for the development of 
blue mold are particularly favorable. Rains are more or less prevalent and the hu- 
midity is generally high. It follows, therefore, that the type of handling which might 
suffice under favorable weather conditions will not then prove satisfactory. 

In addition to bad weather conditions, the character of work done during the early 
part of the season is undoubtedly less careful than what is practiced later on. Shippers 
are in a hurry to get their fruit on the market in time for the holiday trade, and most 
of the workmen have not had sufficient experience. It seems impracticable, in 
Florida at least, to hold field and packing-house labor together throughout the year 
and to maintain a permanent organization. New pickers must therefore be trained 
each season, the same being true in the case of the packing-house labor, although 
probably to a less extent. These factors tend to lower the standard of early handling 
operations. 

All the experiments made by the Bureau of Plant Industry emphasize the impor- 
tance of systematic organization of the labor forces and careful handling of the fruit 
in every stage of its preparation for shipment. Every effort should be directed toward 
maintaining the fruit in sound condition from the time it is picked until it is unloaded 
at its final destination and placed in the hands of the consumer. During unfavorable 
seasons, frequent thorough inspections of the various operations through which the 
fruit passes are most essential. Instead of lowering the standard at this time, it is 
extremely important to approach the ideal as closely as possible. 

In Tables XXI and XXII and figures 25 and 20, the percentages of decay occurring 
during the months of December, January, and February in 1910-11 and 1911-12 are 
presented. Table XXI and figure 25 show the decay in the carefully handled and 
commercially handled experimental shipments on arrival in Washington during 
December, January, February, and March, for both seasons. During December, 
1910, the average percentage of decay in commercial shipments, on arrival at Wash- 
ington, was 13.9 per cent. During December, 1911, the corresponding lots showed 
9.4 per cent on arrival. The careful shipments during these months had 2.3 per cent 
in 1910 and 1.3 per cent in 1911, respectively. 

Table XXI. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington and after holding 
for three weeks, by months, in 1910-11 and 1911-lt. 





Careful pick 


Commercial 




Careful pick 


Commercial 


Time of exami- 


and pack. 


pick and pack. 


Time of exami- 
nation. 


and pack. 


pick and pack. 




















1910-11' 


1911-12' 


1910-111 


1911-12= 




1910-in 


1911-12! 


1910-111 


1911-12* 


On arrival: 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


After 2 weeks: 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


December... 


2.3 


1.3 


13.9 


9.4 


Decern ber. . . 


4.3 


2.1 


21.6 


14.1 


January 


.5 


.6 


6.8 


4.0 


January 


1.6 


1.4 


14.5 


10.1 


February 


.5 


.2 


6.2 


1.6 


February 


1.4 


1.0 


12.4 


9.6 


March 


.3 




5.0 




March 


1.0 




8.5 




After 1 week: 










After 3 weeks: 










December. . . 


3.4 


1.7 


19.1 


12.2 


December 


4.4 


2.8 


22.2 


17.2 


January 


1.1 


.9 


11.4 


6.8 




1.9 


2.2 


15. S 


13.5 


February 


.9 


.4 


10.2 


4.5 


February 


1.7 


2.0 


13.3 


14.2 




.6 




7.3 




March 


1.2 




9.6 





■ The figures for 1910-11 include 7 comparable shipments for December, 28 for January, 28 for February, 
and 16 for March. 

a The figures for 1911-12 include 8 comparable shipments for December, 39 for January, and 18 for 
February. 



44 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Averaging the results for December, 1910 and 1911, the commercially handled fruit 
showed 11. G per cent of decay on arrival and the carefully handled 1.8 per cent. 
During the months of January, 1911 and 1912, the decay of oranges shipped under 
commercial conditions was 6.8 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The corre- 
sponding carefully handled fruit showed 0.6 and 0.5 per cent, respectively, or 
practically the same for both years. 

During February commercially handled fruit showed 6.2 per cent of deterioration 
on arrival at Washington in 1911, the percentage of decay for the following year being 
1 .6 per cent. The average of the February lots for the two seasons was 3.9 per cent. 
Carefully handled fruit during 1911 and 1912 arrived with 0.5 and 0.2 per cent of 
decay, respectively, the average for the two years being 0.3 per cent. 

No experimental shipments were made later than February during the second season. 
In March, 1911, the average percentage of decay in commercial shipments was 5 per 
cent on arrival, the carefully handled lots showing only 0.3 per cent. 




0£rC£V73£rf? 



^//ww?r 



/^BffL/st&y 



Fig. 25. 



-Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival, by months, 
during two seasons, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 



These figures are significant in that they show a very high percentage of decay 
during December, followed by a gradual decrease as the season advances. This is 
true for both commercially and carefully handled fruit, although in the case of the 
latter the loss was, without exception, below the usual 3 per cent commercial allow- 
ance. It is scarcely probable that decay can be held below this point even with the 
best system of handling, for it is practically impossible to eliminate every injured 
orange or to carry on the handling operations in such a way that absolutely no injury 
is done. The general principle that very slight injury will result in decay when 
weather conditions are favorable for the development of blue mold is substantiated 
by these figures, and the importance of extra care during the early months is again 
emphasized. 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA, 



45 



Table XXII and figure 26 show the average percentages of decay found in fruits 
shipped during December, January, and February, 1910-11 and 1911-12, on arrival 
at Washington and after holding for three weeks under ordinary market conditions. 

Table XXII. — Blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival in Washington ami after holding 
for three weeks; average of the two seasons, by months, in 1910-11 and 1911-1$. 



Time of examination. 



On arrival: 
December 
January . . 
February . 

After 1 week: 
December 
January . . 
February . 



Careful 

pick and 

pack. 



Per cent. 

1.8 

.6 

.3 

2.5 
1.0 

.7 



Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 



Per cent. 
11.6 
5.4 
3.9 

15.7 
Si. 1 
7.3 



Time of examination. 



After 2 weeks: 
December 
January . . 
February . 

After 3 weeks: 
December 
January . . 
February . 



Careful 

pick and 

pack. 



Per cent. 
3.2 
1.5 
1.2 

3.6 
2.1 
1.8 



Commer- 
cial pick 
and pack. 



Per cent . 
17.8 
12.8 
10.5 

19.7 
11.6 
13.8 



The commercially handled fruit, picked and shipped during December, showed 
the highest average percentage of decay on arrival (11.6 per cent), and the increase 
after three weeks was correspondingly higher than was the case for fruit picked 
and shipped during January 
and February. Commer- 
cially handled fruit, picked 
and shipped during Janu- 
ary, arrived with 5.4 per 
cent of decay, and that 
sent out during February 
showed 3.9 per cent on ar- 
rival. The shipments of 
carefully handled fruit ar- 
rived with an average of 1.8 
per cent during December, 
0.6 per cent during January, 
and 0.3 per cent during 
February, and after holding 
for three weeks showed 3.6 
per cent, 2.1 per cent, and 
1.8 per cent of decay, re- 
spectively. All of the care- 
fully handled fruit, even 
that shipped during De- 
cember, showed much less 
decay after three weeks in 
market than the commer- 
cial shipments during Feb- 
ruary showed on arrival. 

The superior shipping and 

, , , .,• rtioa f Fig. 26.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay m 

marK:et-noium qualities oi carefu n y handled and commercially handled oranges picked during 

carefully handled fruit are December, January, and February; average of the two seasons, 

evident. 1910-11 and 1911-12. 




PRECOOLING. 

The term "precooling" has been used to designate the prompt and rapid cooling 
of fruit prior to shipment. The initial cooling of the product is accomplished very 
slowly when the fruit is shipped under ordinary icing conditions, the ice of a refrige- 
rator car not being able to cool the fruit with sufficient promptness and rapidity to 



46 BULLETIN 63, t T . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

prevent the development of decay. Consequently, deterioration is often far advanced 
before the temperature of the fruit is reduced to the point where these processes are 
checked. Under a system of precooling, the ice of the refrigerator car is relieved of 
the burden of initial cooling and is merely required to keep the fruit cool during 
transit. 

Precooling is accomplished by means of special equipment, the refrigerating medium 
being either ice and salt or special refrigerating machinery. When adequate equip- 
mentis supplied, the initial temperature of the fruit may be reduced in a comparatively 
short time. The work may be done in refrigerated rooms or chambers before the boxes 
are placed in the cars, or it may be accomplished by circulating cold air around the 
packages after loading. The comparative advantages and limitations of these two 
systems can not be discussed here, but a few important points regarding the applica- 
tion of precooling to the shipment of Florida oranges must be emphasized. 

Precooling may not safely be depended upon to offset decay following mechanical 
injuries due to improper methods of handling the fruit when preparing it for shipment. 
It is, however, a valuable and legitimate means of insuring arrival on the market in 
sound condition after each grower, packer, and sliipper has done his share in properly 
handling the fruit. Precooling, in order to be effective, must be accomplished 
promptly and rapidly. A considerable delay in applying the process may nullify all 
possible benefits and defeat the object for which the work is undertaken. 

Icing has been practiced to a limited extent in Florida, but precooling has not as 
yet been attempted. The value of this method of shipment in marketing Florida 
oranges is largely problematical. Its advantages are likely to be overestimated if the 
general distribution and application of the processes are attempted without careful 
and systematic investigation. During the warm and humid weather usually prevalent 
in Florida in December and January, precooling may be of considerable benefit, pro- 
vided always that it is not expected to offset the bad effects of careless or improper 
handling. During warm and humid weather, such as occurred during the months 
of December, January, and part of February of the season of 1912-13, oranges are 
injured more easily than under ordinary conditions and are more subject to decay 
from these injuries. Infection from the ever-present, blue-mold spores is almost 
certain, and stem-end decay or other diseases may gain considerable headway. Rapid 
cooling (precooling) may possibly delay the development of stem-end decay for a 
week or more after the fruit arrives in market. While precooling and refrigeration 
can not do more than to delay for a short time the occurrence and development of 
this disease, such delay may prove of material benefit. 

Precooling may reduce the quantity of ice consumed during the trip to market by 
removing the necessity of cooling fruit at the beginning of the trip. Possibly during 
the winter season, when the weather is cool or cold along the route, fruit which has 
been precooled may be moved to its destination under the initial icing alone. Pre- 
cooling is expensive, and unless a material advantage can be obtained thereby its 
application can not be justified. If a sum of money equal to the expense of precooling 
is expended in insuring careful handling of the fruit during the course of its prepara- 
tion for shipment, the returns will probably be more certain and more lasting. 

STEM-END ROT. 

In addition to the losses from blue mold, there has been considerable deterioration 
of Florida citrus fruits after arrival in market due to the attacks of the stem-end decay 
fungus. Unlike blue mold, tins fungus does not apparently depend upon injurii .- . >r 
breaks in the skin through which to gain entrance to the tissues of the fruit. Investi- 
gation during the season of 1910-11, in cooperation with the Florida experiment 
station, proved conclusively that the stem-end rot disease can not be controlled by 



SHIPMENT OF ORANGES FROM FLORIDA. 47 

means of careful handling. The results of this investigation into the nature of the 
fungus, its manner of growth, and its development have been published by the Florida 
experiment station. 1 

SUMMARY. 

The orange crop of Florida averages 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 boxes per year, and it 
has been estimated that, reckoning the good with the bad years, probably 10 per 
cent of the fruit decays before reaching the consumer. This entails an annual finan- 
cial loss of at least half a million dollars. By far the most common form of decay is 
that caused by the growth of the blue-mold fungus within the tissues of the fruit, 
entrance being obtained only through some mechanical injury to the skin. The 
first researches of the Bureau of Plant Industry indicated that, owing to improper 
equipment in grove and packing house as well as to the carelessness of pickers and 
packers and their ignorance of the essential factors of good handling, considerable 
injury was being inflicted on the fruit in the course of its preparation for shipment. 
Most serious of all are the injuries inflicted by the clippers in severing the fruit from 
the tree and the punctures caused by the presence of long stems on the oranges. 
Many bruises or abrasions, especially those caused by dropping the fruit, can not 
be detected by packers and develop heavy decay in transit. 

In most sections of the State cleaning the fruit has become a necessity, owing to the 
wide distribution of the citrus white fly and the development of the sooty-mold 
fungus which follows in the wake of that pest. At present probably 75 per cent of 
the Florida orange crop is cleaned either by washing or by the sawdust method. The 
Department investigations show that decay in transit or on the market is largely due 
to injuries received or aggravated during washing and drying and that these opera- 
tions may be conducted in such a way that little or no harm ensues or may be fol- 
lowed by serious deterioration. The experiments of the Bureau of Plant Industry 
during the past seven years prove conclusively that the condition of the fruit after 
arrival in market depends largely upon the character of the work done in the grove 
and the packing house; that it is possible to so conduct the operations of picking, 
packing, and shipping as to inflict a minimum of mechanical injuries; and that unin- 
jured Florida oranges can be placed on the market in practically sound condition 
even in seasons of very high decay. Practically all loss from blue-mold decay, such as 
has occurred in the past, can be eliminated. 

The sizes of Florida oranges vary from 80 to 420 fruits in a box, the most common 
sizes being 126, 150, 176, and 200 to a box. The Florida shipping box measures 12 
by 12 by 27 inches, inside dimensions, and has an estimated weight of SO pounds 
when filled. The average shipment per car totals 321 boxes, loaded 2 tiers high. A 
standard shipping car is 33 feet long, 8 feet wide, and S-l J inches high; the minimum 
freight weight of a standard car of 300 boxes is 24,000 pounds. The average freight 
rate on citrus fruits from Florida during 1912-13 was 65.7 cents per box of 80 pounds 
weight. 

During the past five years the Florida citrus industry has been reorganized and tin; 
changes have greatly improved the handling of the fruit. At the time the Depart- 
ment investigations were begun the methods of preparing oranges for shipment were 
extremely crude; there was no uniformity of system and the equipment was wholly 
inadequate to the needs of the industry. Of late years the old type of packing house 
has almost entirely disappeared. Modern houses, equipped with the newest machin- 
ery for handling fruit properly, have been constructed in practically every citrus 
district in the State, so that the industry is now well provided with the mechanical 
appliances for doing good work. Further reforms' will include improvement of field 
equipment and more careful attention to the details of picking and to the organization 

i Fawcett, H. S Stem-end rot of citrus fruits. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 106. 



48 BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

of the picking and packing crews. The men should be paid by the day instead of 
by the box, and a conscientious foreman should carefully oversee the work of the indi- 
vidual pickers. The bureau experiments prove that it is possible to train workmen 
to use more care and to greatly reduce their percentage of imperfections. 

More than 90 experimental shipments of oranges were made from Florida in 1910-11, 
and 65 were sent out in 1911-12, including fruit from every section of the State and 
from good, poor, and average houses. Plate XV illustrates the condition in which 
some of these lots arrived in Washington. The carefully picked, graded, and packed 
fruit showed 4 per cent of decay on arrival, the commercially picked but carefully 
graded and packed fruit showed 35.6 per cent, and the commercially handled fruit 
had 65.9 per cent. After one week these percentages had increased to 4 per cent, 46 
per cent, and 71.6 per cent, respectively; after two weeks they were 11.5 per cent. 
54 per cent, and 72.2 per cent; and after three weeks, 11.5 per cent, 57.1 per cent, 
and 72.2 per cent. 

The carefully handled fruit arrived in Washington during both seasons with less 
than 1 per cent of decay, or an average for the two years of 0.6 per cent for all the 
experimental shipments. The fruit handled under commercial conditions through- 
out had developed more than twice as much decay by the first inspection as occurred 
in the carefully handled fruit at the end of three weeks. 

That commercial handling may also be careful handling is demonstrated by the fact 
that during both seasons the average percentage of decay in the commercial fruit 
shipped from 12 houses using care was almost as low as the average for any of the lots 
carefully handled by the bureau workers. In one packing house, where during 
1910-11 the percentage of decay in the commercially handled fruit reached 15.8 per 
cent after holding for three weeks in Washington, the handling operations were so 
improved by the adoption of the bureau methods that during 1911-12 only 4.1 per 
cent of decay developed in the commercially handled fruit at the end of the same, 
period. 

It has been the general experience that blue-mold decay is more prevalent in 
Florida during the early months of the shipping season than it is later. All of the 
fruit carefully handled by the bureau workers, even that shipped during December, 
showed much less decay after three weeks in market than the commercial shipments 
during February showed on arrival. The shipping experiments showed that care- 
fully handled fruit may be "cured " without serious loss, but that whenever the fruit 
has been appreciably damaged in the course of its preparation for shipment, decay is 
materially greater in the delayed lots. 

Although not more than 1 per cent of the total sliipments of citrus fruits had pre- 
viously been iced, during 1912-13 a considerable number of commercial shipments 
were sent north under refrigeration. No systematic study was made of the behavior 
of fruit of the same grade and quality under the two systems of shipment, but the 
general opinion seems to prevail among shippers that the icing resulted in material 
benefit to the fruit. The investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry have demon- 
strated, however, that Florida oranges may be transported to market under ventilation 
with a minimum loss from decay, even during periods of warm and humid weather, 
if sufficient care is used t.i preserve the skin of the fruit in an unbroken condition. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

In the light of the principles established by the workers of the Department of Agri- 
culture in the investigations and experiments of the past seven seasons, viz, that tbe 
condition of the fruit after arrival in market depends largely upon the character of the 
work done in grove and packing house, and that it is possible to so conduct the opera- 
tions of picking, packing, and shipping as to inflict a minimum of mechanical injuries 



SHIPMENT OF OEANGES FROM FLORIDA. 49 

from which decay may develop, the following points are recommended to the attention 
of growers and shippers of Florida citrus fruits: 

Workmen, especially pickers, should be paid by the day and not by the quantity 
of work done. 

More careful attention to the details of picking and to the organization and inspec- 
tion of the picking crews is necessary. Each member of the crew should be held 
responsible for the character of his work. An efficient field foreman should supervise 
the pickers, watch their output, and insist on careful handling. He should be 
prohibited from picking fruit himself. 

Clippers with rounded or blunted points should be supplied. These should be 
frequently inspected by the foreman to prevent their becoming dull or loose at the 
joint. 

Picking sacks of heavy material, which have partially closed mouths, allowing the 
fruit to be emptied from the bottom, and having a capacity of not more than half of a 
large standard field box, should be used. 

Pickers should not pull the fruit from the tree. All oranges should be severed by 
means of the "double cut. " 

Fruit should be placed carefully in the picking sack and not dropped or tossed in. 

The picking sack should be lowered into the field box and the oranges allowed to 
roll out gently without appreciable drop. 

No fruit should be picked up from the ground and placed in the field boxes. 

Smaller field boxes of lighter materials are recommended. 

The fruit should not project above the top of the field box, and the latter should 
be transported to the packing house on a spring wagon. The driver should be given 
an especially prepared seat and not allowed to sit on the fruit. 

Each picker and packer should be required to wear gloves. 

Picking receptacles, field boxes, and packing bins should be kept free of gravel, 
twigs, splinters, protruding nails, or other foreign matter. 

The efficiency of the packing house may be spoiled by a desire to save floor space. 
Simplicity should govern the choice and disposal of all equipment. 

The desirable hopper is small, has padded sides, and allows the fruit to be emptied 
gradually by means of moving belts. The fruit should not fall by gravity at any 
stage of its journey. 

Uniform and definite grading rules should be established for the State. 

Wherever washing is not absolutely necessary in order to render the fruit market- 
able it should be omitted. 

Water in the soaking tank should be frequently changed, and sprays of fresh water 
should be directed against the fruit as it passes through the washing machine. 

The best type of washing machine has the fruit in plain sight at all times, allows 
no pressure on the oranges save that afforded by their own weight, does not allow 
the fruits to tumble over or against each other, and does not allow twigs, thorns, 
nails, etc., to become lodged in the runway through which the fruit must pass. 

Fruit should never be packed while moist. An artificial drier in which a warm 
air blast is circulated around the fruit seems to be a necessity from the standpoint of 
thorough work and careful handling. 

The sawdust method of cleaning grapefruit is ineffective as well as highly injurious. 

Loose packs of fruit are more liable to be injured in transit than those of medium 
height with every orange firmly in place. 

Decayed fruit should not be left in the boxes or allowed to accumulate on the floor 
or under the packing bins in the packing houses. 

Curing is unwise, as the delay increases the chance for the infection of bruises or 
injured spots and facilitates the development of decay before shipment and in transit . 



50 



BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF A( 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

II 



000 917 790 5 



During unfavorable seasons, especially during December and January, when warm 
and humid weather is prevalent in Florida, frequent thorough inspections of the 
various operations through which the fruit passes are most essential. Instead of lower- 
ing the standard at this time, it is extremely important to approach the ideal as closely 
as possible. 

Precooling may not safely be depended upon to offset decay following mechanical 
injuries due to improper methods of handling the fruit when preparing it for ship- 
ment, but it is a valuable and legitimate means of insuring arrival on the market in 
sound condition after each grower, packer, and shipper has done his share in properly 
handling the fruit. 



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